You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet
by Rowan Watkins
Summary: It's her 7th year at Hogwarts, and Rowan Watkins wants to end the year with a bang.When she finds the Marauders are also looking for a little end of year mischief,she and best friend Lily Evans compete with Hogwart's bad boys to pull the ultimate prank.
1. Chapter 1

On Saturdays Rowan would lie in bed and run through all the activities of the day, thoughts swirling through her brain like a swarm of buzzing hornets, streaming out of her skull and winding themselves through her quill, which scribbled furiously against crisp parchment. With each delicate scritch, ink slid over paper and a new thought would present itself. By the end of each day, Rowan could relax, mind cleared, and reference all her jumbled ideas. A typical list might include the following-

What had happened in class that day

You-Know-Who and the Order

James Potter

James unfortunately liking Lily

The possible love connection between toast and the Giant Squid

Though these lists were incredibly pointless, the ramblings of a love-struck adolescent girl, they had a calming effect on Rowan. Years later, when the baby was put to sleep and she had a moment to herself, she'd take the papers from the shoe box beneath her bed and laugh over how serious everything seemed, from her horrible new haircut to the possibility that James had not been smiling at her in the corridor, but in fact had been grinning over the Cockroach Clusters caught in her teeth. Oh, the horror.

Yet whenever Rowan made a list, it had a point. Things she did always had to have a point- she simply wasn't the type of person to do work that wasn't needed. (She was much too lazy for that) No, Rowan was a doer, a paranoid young woman with her feet anywhere but the ground and a cheerful disposition. What Rowan wanted to be done usually got done, she made sure of that, and it was on this Saturday afternoon that Rowan had settled herself on a cushion in the Gryffindor girl's dormitory, a fresh list propped up against her knees and quill clenched in teeth. Just as she moved to put pen to paper, however, someone popped up from beneath the bed cushions, right in Rowan's face, causing her to drop the inkwell all over herself in shock.

"Dammit Lily, watch where you're poking that nose of yours, you could take a person out!" Rowan cried, using her want to siphon away the ink.

Lily laughed, her green eyes sparkling. "You know you loved it. Whatcha' working on, another list?"

The girls had been friends for too long not to know the other's smallest tendencies. Rowan sometimes would get sentimental and remember the first day they met, long haired and wild on the Hogwarts Express. Of course, things had been slightly different then, with Snivellus tagging around, wiping his nose on his frayed sleeves and his beady black eyes always hidden by that oily curtain of jet black hair. Funny how when Rowan found herself in that compartment with Lily, Snape, and the now semi-famous Mauraders she had felt anything but love for the whole lot of them. Lily seemed too bossy, James too arrogant, Sirius too demanding, Remus too dull, and Snape...he'd always and still did seem off. But when given the choice between staying to have a lovely chat with four boys or sitting with one bossy redhead and her brooding friend, well...Rowan always chose the thing most familiar, and Lily's company was just that. Despite not getting on very well at all (the first day in Potions Rowan delivered the first attack, purposely causing a cauldron to explode in Lily's face, while Lily sought revenge the next morning by contaminating Rowan's eggs with bobotuber pus) the other now knew each other so well it was like having a second self. Snapping out of her reflection, Rowan crumpled up the parchment and lazily tossed it over Lily and into the rubbish bin by her feet, where it crumpled into a heap on the floor, missing the target.

"Nice one." Lily said, smirking. Rowan laughed.

"Oh, shut it, you."

The sun was dazzling, high and bright against a warm September sky not yet plagued by heavy gray clouds and the dainty V formations of southbound geese. Unusually warm for the season, the balmy weather was perfect for a trip out to the lakeside. As the girls strolled down to the shore, Rowan marveled at the beauty of the grounds and the health of the Whomping Willow, while Lily blabbered on about the idiocy of James Potter, who was spending the afternoon cooling his feet at the water's edge with his friends in tow. Every few seconds or so, he'd turn back and throw Lily furtive glances with every ruffle of his mussy hair.

"Great, stupid prat. Who does he think he is, anyway?" Lily growled, staring moodily back at James, who grinned and waved. Rowan, who had only been half listening, smiled at this and popped a shimmering cube of Coconut Ice into her mouth, letting the gooey texture melt against her tongue.

"I don't know. The fan-fuckingtastic King of Hogwarts, perhaps?"

Lily laughed, eying her reflection in the cool ripples of water. "Thank god I can count on you to tell it like it is...and get that thing out of your mouth; you've already had ten this morning."

Rowan rolled her eyes, taking another cube from the bag and running her tongue slowly around its edges, licking down the sides. "Look Lily, another one!" She cried, swallowing the square whole and taking another from the bag. "And another! How DOES she do it?" Lily laughed, swatting at Rowan with her quill.

"Stop that, you're disgusting...and speaking of disgusting, does Potter keep looking over here? Distract me."

And so Rowan pulled a giant Arithmancy book from Lily's bag, opened it to the most difficult page she could find, and proceeded to quiz Lily on ever star in the galaxy until Peter dropped his shoes in the Lake and the gang retired to the castle early. So was the beginning of life at Hogwarts for seventh year Rowan Watkins.

The next morning at breakfast the ceiling was a deep, lustrous blue, shimmering stars still reflected from the dark sky outside. Under it chaos reigned, as Lily dissected their new schedules while Rowan fussed over her owl, who had crash landed into her cereal after skidding on stupid Longbottom's jelly. Why she of all people would be stuck with such a bird would puzzle Rowan for a lifetime, but at the moment she was in too bad of a mood to care as she tried to simultaneously mop a soggy owl and listen to Lily complain.

"Potions first thing in the morning! Wonderful, Slughorn might be in a better mood...but ugh, Potter breezed by this morning and told me, in that cocky little manner of his, that we've got Arithmancy and Ancient Runes together. Just when I thought I got rid of him!" She cried, stuffing her schedule into her bag. "That boy will follow me to my grave."

The owl was now screeching madly, greatly opposed to having its feathers siphoned off with a dish towel, but Rowan refused to give up.

"Gimme a hand with the rogue owl?" She grunted, as her bird squealed and made another bid for freedom. Lily raised a brow.

"That thing loathes you. Why don't you just use your wand?"

What help she could be.

"I don't trust myself with magic around owls. Last time I tried anything half her feathers fell out, d'you remember that?"

"That was years ago, when we were supposed to be turning animals into tea cups!" Lily cried, falling into a fit of giggles at the memory.

"Good times." Rowan said, smiling a bit herself as she wiped around her owl's eyes.

"What's gotten into that bird?"

It was none other than James Potter. Flanked on either side by the rest of his gang, hair perfectly tousled, he attracted the attention of a couple third years at the end of the table, who began giggling loudly at the sight of him. Lily, who had a very low tolerance for both James Potter and giggling, whirled around to face him, letting go of the owl's other leg. Upon realizing the release of one of its limbs, and a split second later that it's owner had notoriously poor reflexes, the owl let out a loud screech and took off for the Owlery, beating it's wings frantically and swooping low over people's heads, causing them to duck over their porridge.

"She's never going to come back." Rowan said, wiping away streaky jelly marks from her side of the table with the milk sodden napkin. Sirius Black slid into the seat next to her and helped himself to a piece of burnt toast, buttering it liberally before swallowing it whole.

"I wouldn't be too upset about that." He said pointedly, tossing his hair out of his eyes. "Last time you sent me a letter the fiend bit me. I wouldn't want a smelly old owl that bites my friends, but then again that's just my humble opinion." Rowan yawned.

"Thanks for that bit of thought, Sirius, but I think I'll keep my owl." Sirius shrugged, buttering another burnt piece of toast.

"Suit yourself mate, but I'm Sirius Black...I know things. And that bird is going to eat you in the night."

A seat down, James was yet again attempting to charm Lily.

"Going out for Quidditch again this year." He boasted, giving his hair another tousle. Down the table, the third years giggled madly.

"When do you NOT go out for the team, Potter?" Lily snapped, using the size of her Arithmancy book to distance herself and Potter.

"Why sit out when you're as good as I am?"

"Your confidence certainly is admirable."

"Well, I-"

"Sarcasm, Potter. I'm going to be late for Potions." And with a quick toss of hair she stood up, threw the giant Arithmancy text into her bag, and hurried down the aisleway towards the staircase. James bolted after her.

"That class is bobbins, we should have dropped it years ago!" He cried, skirting a couple first years. "...Hang on, don't look like that, I forgot it was your favorite! Listen, I like it a lot too! Slughorn's lovely, just...wait, we have it together, I'll walk you there!"

"Because I need YOUR protection from all those pickled animals in the Dungeons." Lily snapped, turning 'round to face him. "The fact I have a fully functional wand and seven years magical training doesn't mean a thing."

"No, thats not...I just...Wait! Evans!"

And with that they were off, playing their ever going game of cat and mouse Hogwarts had come to expect year after year from James Potter and Lily Evans. Sirius watched them go, his head cocked to the side, then let out his sharp bark like laugh and slung his bag over his shoulders.

"Guess we better be getting going too. Come along, m'lady?" He asked, bowing and offering his hand to Rowan. From the corner of her eye, Rowan observed Remus quickly duck his head behind his dog eared copy Ancient Runes. She could have sworn he was smiling.

"Why thank you, good sir." She said, taking his hand. Together they crossed the Hall to the staircase that led to the Dungeons, the raised voices of Lily and James soon telling them they had reached their destination.

"How can they be fighting again?" Sirius asked in astonishment, his thick eyebrows pinching together in the middle of his forehead. Rowan shrugged, squeezing past Sirius into the room.

"It's Lily and James. I like to think of it as bonding for them." Sirius laughed.

"You still like to think James got a chance, eh?"

Rowan paused before answering this question. Year after year this scenario played out, and year after year James Potter still never got the girl. She'd tried countless times to convince Lily that Potter wasn't so bad after all, but all that got her was an icy stare, a curse narrowly avoided, or some snippy remark along the lines of "Then why don't you date the arse?" Truthfully, Rowan was getting tired of trying, but she couldn't say no to James's puppy dog eyes or the friendly attitudes of the Mauraders when she agreed to do a little persuading. 'I have to start saying no,' Rowan thought, tugging at her curls.

"I honestly think they've got as much of a chance as you and me Black." Rowan said, pushing her finger into Black's chest to distance him from her. "But James can still try."

Black raised an eyebrow, and he looked momentarily confused before snickering and giving Rowan's hair an affectionate tousle.

"Ah, Watkins." He said, shaking his head. "You think we'll never be together? Wrong you are, mate. I can see the desire in your eyes. You can't keep away." Rowan snorted.

"I think it's the other way around kid. Those hands of yours, they can't control themselves when they see these curves."

"Right you are, m'lady." Sirius chortled. "How'd you know?"

"Just a lucky guess. Now get in here, we're gonna be late."

Night had fallen over the castle, and after a hectic schedule, during which Rowan fell prey to no less than four trick steps, had a potion bubble over her cauldron, forgot her quill, singed off part of her hair and had another conference with James Potter, she was feeling extremely worn out. Eyes glazing over the books and parchment spilled out onto Rowan's four poster and Lily's pushed next to it, Rowan finally set down her quill, pushed away a half-finished Transfiguration chart and rubbed her eyes.

"Blimey, McGonagall's working us to the bone already and term's barely started."

Lily came floating into view, illuminated by candlelight as she un-braided her thick hair.

"I don't know what you expected, Rowan. This is our last year before we're out in the real world, and McGonagall is only being realistic when she gives us this much work. When we're actually working it won't be all fun and games, you know."

She tossed her hair over her shoulder and settled herself on her bed, packing away her books and quills in perfect order. That was just the way of Lily Evans-order, order, and...well, more order.

"And we're aiming for Auror training," Lily continued, using her wand to summon stray quills and ink pots from the bed. "You shouldn't have taken Auror classes if that's not what you really are interested in doing." Rowan yawned, stretching her arms towards the ceiling.

"There's no way I'm skipping out now. We're joining the Order to do some good in this world, and hell, I say it'll work. It's just that I'm lazy, and a trip to the kitchens for a midnight glass of milk sounds pretty damn wonderful right now."

Lily sighed, then seized Rowan's hand and guided her towards the door to the common room.

"That sounds fantastic." She said. "I'm exhausted too. Do you remember how to get in there?" Rowan smirked.

"Like I ever would forget! Do you have the shoe?" Lily smiled, kneeling and rummaging around underneath her bed before procuring a chunky purple pump.

"Already one step ahead of you, Watkins." She said with a wink. "Let's hurry down there."


	2. Chapter 2

It was exciting, the castle at night. Floors creaked with the heavy steps of armored soldiers and the paintings were sound, sleeping deeply in their gold portraits. The stone corridors were dreadfully cold, filled with ghosts and generally gave a feeling of unease, but Lily and Rowan had snuck out plenty of times before to know the routes to use. The quickest way to the kitchens was to use the stairwell near the third corridor on the Gryffindor tower floor, but that space was always prowled by Mrs. Norris, Filch's dusty cat. Unfortunately, the next quickest route was patrolled ruthlessly by Filch himself, so the girls had devised a sneaky way of getting down to the kitchens their first year. The purple pump was Lily's, and was wedged in the crook of the door at the beginning of every outing to ensure that they would not be locked out.

"Is it just me, or is everything darker than usual tonight?" Lily breathed, blindly feeling around the walls as the two girls padded down the corridor. Rowan shuddered from the cold, taking Lily by the elbow.

"It's just you…and don't worry, I'm here."

They continued down the corridor at a snail's pace, pausing at every creak or groan of the castle with bated breath, pressed against the cold walls until silently signaling to the other it was safe to move on. After ten minutes of travel Lily grabbed Rowan's arm and pulled her to a dark corner, far away from any torchlight, then yanked her to the floor.

"What are you-?" Rowan hissed, but Lily forced a hand over her mouth. "Sssh!"

"What are you doing, madwoman?" Rowan mumbled. "I swear Lily, you're a nutter, what the bloody hell is-"

"I said sssh!" Lily snapped, her bright green eyes shimmering ominously in the dim light. She removed her hand from Rowan's mouth and said, a little fearfully, "I think we're being followed."

"What?"

"That's just what I think. Let's...let's just stay here for a little longer to see what's going on, and if it's just the wind or something we can get going again." She whispered, pulling her dressing gown tight over her knees. Rowan would usually have argued back, but to be honest she didn't like the idea of being stalked by someone whom she imagined as humpbacked and fanged following her any more than Lily did.

Chapter 2: Chapter 2

They were quiet, and it wasn't long until Rowan heard it too-the soft, shuffling sounds of feet and small whispers.

"Sounds like men." Rowan breathed, edging forward to get a better look. Lily's arms were lightning fast, reaching out for her gown and dragging her back to safety.

"Sssh! They're getting closer."

Indeed they were. The shuffling was growing louder, and incoherent, deep whispers were sounding closer with every step. Rowan looked to Lily to see her eyes wide, her neck craning to get a better look out into the darkness.

"I wish they'd hurry up and show their damn faces already." She growled, using Rowan's shoulder to prop herself up for a better look. "They couldn't be more than students…"

Rowan winced, Lily's pincer like grip digging into her shoulders. The footsteps grew louder until, quite suddenly, they stopped altogether. Lily looked towards Rowan.

"Good, they left, now we can-POTTER!" She screeched, for James had suddenly seized her around the waist and was laughing in her ear as she kicked, writhing to set herself free.

"Sneaking around the grounds this late at night, Evans? Tsk tsk, what will mother say…" James said casually, releasing her and pacing the hall with hands slung low in his robe pockets. "Head Girl and everything. What trouble you'd be in if you happened to be found…" Lily's eyes blazed in the firelight, and she launched herself at James Potter and began hitting every part of the boy she could reach.

"And what will everyone say when I bust their beloved Head Boy for stalking the Head Girl AND, on top of that, slinking around at night like he was invisible!"

An odd, superior smile flickered across James's face in the dim firelight and he chuckled, glancing over his shoulder.

"Game's up, boys. Looks like Evans found us."

From the darkness, seemingly out of nowhere, the remaining Marauders appeared. Peter came into view first, his watery eyes squinting in the darkness, trying to make out the faintest bit of light. Sirius was next, a boyish smirk on his face as he sauntered over to them and stood next to Rowan. And lastly, Remus, who slouched towards them with a grim face but mischievous twinkle in his tawny eyes. At the sight of them, and realizing that she was only in a dressing gown, Rowan felt her face grow hot, and she pushed her curls over her face to hide the burn.

"Well, now that the gang's all here," Lily said acidly, surveying the little group and giving Remus a rather tight lipped smile, "Why don't you tell us what exactly you're all doing here?"

James shrugged, leaning against the wall. "Same thing you lovely ladies are. Just wandering about, getting out of the dormitories. We do this quite a bit, actually."

Too late, James realized his mistake. Lily had gotten the information she wanted. With a real, wide smile she seized Rowan's hand and began to walk towards the stairs, a spring to her step.

"I've finally got you, Potter. Walking the grounds at night! I'm going to get you into so much trouble you won't believe it. No more superiority and arrogant smugness here, you've gotten yourself into this one." She was ablaze with excitement, her eyes bright and clear in the torch light. Halfway up the stairs, Rowan wrought herself free of Lily's death grip and crossed her arms defiantly, leaning against the banister.

"Do you realize, Lils, that if we say we found them sneaking around, McGonagall would assume we were out of bed too?" Lily paused in mid step, then turned so fast she slid down several steps and onto the stone floor.

"Dammit, didn't think of that…but wait!" She cried, jogging up the steps to Rowan. "If we tell her we heard noises in the common room, then thought of it as my job as Head Girl to investigate, with you as protection, it would be a valid excuse."

"Why on earth would you bring me for protection, Lily? I see a spider and nearly wet myself."

"Well that's beside the point." Lily said crossly. "McGonagall loves us, there's no way she'd-hey! GET BACK HERE YOU THIEVING MONKEYS!" And she broke into a run, having just caught James Potter and his gang slinking off into the shadows, taking full advantage of the two friend's argument.

James winced as Lily's words hit him, and he turned around to find her marching towards him, her face screwed up in anger.

"Get back here, you coward! Face me like the man you claim to be!"

This was too much for James. All gentlemanly swagger disappeared, and the pleasantly flushed cheeks were washed away by pure, angry red.

"Evans, I don't know why you care so much we were out after dark, but it's none of your business. You just go on your merry way and I'll go on mine!" Lily laughed derisively.

"Sending me away like a little schoolgirl now, are you, Potter? Well let me tell you, I don't have to take orders from any man, especially a man like you!" With that Lily turned on her heel and seized Rowan's hand again, dragging her up the stairs. All was quiet for a moment until Potter let her words sink in and decided he wasn't backing down without a fight.

"Don't twist my words around, Lily!" He cried up the stairs. "That interpretation is all on you, not me. If you really want to know what we were doing down here so badly, I'll gladly tell you."

That had an effect on Lily. She paused on the steps and turned, letting go of Rowan, who rubbed the mark on her wrist furiously.

"Alright Potter." She said smoothly, tossing her hair out of her eyes. "Give it to me straight."

Black, who had been watching the exchange like a tennis match through his onyx eyes, suddenly came to life, falling to one knee before James and gripping the folds of his cloak.

"Don't do it mate!" He cried, tugging at the thick fabric. "You'll ruin us!"

But James' mind was already made up, and at that moment Lily's opinion mattered more than his best friend's. "We're mapping out an area for our end of year prank. It's the biggest yet. Happy now?"

This captured Lily's attention.

"Prank?" She asked, gliding down the stairs. Sirius fell to the floor at James's feet and sobbed in fake agony. Rowan smirked, giving him a little kick with her foot as she passed by him. "Drama king." Sirius flopped over onto his back and winked.

"Yea, prank. We pull one every year, but this one…the Big Bang, we like to call it." James said with pride, smiling at Lily.

"Name courtesy of Mister Remus Lupin, my dear friend and partner in crime." Sirius added, appearing at Jame's side with a mock bow to Lupin. Remus gave a small smile, then stared down at his feet again. Lily was eyeing James apprehensively.

"I know about your yearly pranks. They're always….enlightening. Continue." James looked uneasy.

"Well there's not really much more to-"

"In exchange that you don't tell anyone about us sneaking out, we won't tell on you if you agree to a challenge." Lily cut across him, her hands on hips. James eyed her skeptically.

"What kind of challenge?" He asked. Lily smiled mischievously, standing up to her fullest height.

"A prank pulling contest, that's the kind." James looked at Lily for a moment, and she stuck out her hand, a small smile playing at the corners of her lips.

"You're setting yourself up for failure, son." Sirius said, glaring at Lily's outstretched hand. James ignored him.

"Deal." He said, his hand wrapping around Lily's. They shook hands quickly, Lily dusting hers off on her robes as though James' hand had been contaminated after finishing.

"A deal is a deal, Potter." She warned, sliding up the stairs again. "And just to warn you, if I ever catch you out of bed again, I will go straight to Dumbledore's office, no questions asked." James nodded.

"Understood, Evans." He said, smirking slightly, "But just to warn you-the Marauders don't disappoint." And without warning he was gone, as if he'd dissolved into thin air.


	3. Chapter 3

Time passes swiftly at Hogwarts, and before long Rowan found herself wrapped in an overlong tweed coat, gloves that made her hands big as Hagrid's and an ugly yarn cap.

"Why does winter have to do this to me?" She whined, examining her reflection in the mirror. Lily smiled, coming out of the bathroom with a foamy mouth of toothpaste.

"Oh please don't take it off, it's too wonderful to look at." Rowan scowled, then hopefully tilted the hat to the side. Lily smirked.

"It's hopeless." Rowan said in despair. "I look a Grindylow…"

November, along with frost and terrible hats, brought the start of the Quidditch season, but the old house rivalries had been going on since the beginning of term.

"Better hope you'll be able to stay on that broomstick, kid!" One hulking Slytherin called to James as he stalked Lily to Potions.

"Better hope you'll be able to make the team next year!" James called back. Lily rolled her eyes.

While the rest of the school excitedly compared notes on the stats of the two teams to be playing that weekend, Gryffindor and Slytherin, Lily was busy focusing on not attending since Potter would be there, and only agreed when Rowan threatened to tie her ankles together and drag her to the game and actually began to do so. The weather had turned extremely cold in the past few weeks, and it was with only half high spirits that fans trudged along the crunchy, frosted grass to the pitch, their breath sparkling in the chilled morning air.

"Slytherins dominating the field this year!" One boy called to Lily as they made their way toward the stands.

"In your dreams, serpent!" She bantered back, tossing her long hair over her shoulder. "It's lions for the Cup!" Rowan winked at her.

It was this frenzied energy that Rowan loved. The eager chatter of crowds, the witty banters between members of the opposing teams (friendly or brutal, depending on how the other person took it. Sirius Black had gotten himself a black eye when trying to joke around with the usually calm Hufflepuff captain about the upcoming game) and the high spirit of supporting teams, some going so far as to paint their faces in strips of house colors or match their makeup and dress to show school spirit. Lily had complemented her eyes with a striking gold shadow, and the scarf she wore alongside her maroon pea coat and matching beret perched on her head screamed for attention…which she was definitely getting. Instead of throwing insults at her like they normally would have done, Slytherin boys cat called as she swept by their stands, but she kept her head high and ignored all their advances.

"It only encourages them." She said airily as Rowan followed her, feeling terribly under-dressed in her strange green trench like coat and fuzzy purple hat. She prayed no one important would notice her in this ensemble…though she had to admit her prayers probably would be answered, since it was hard to notice her next to Lily any day.

But today was an exception.

"Oi! You there!" Rowan turned at the same time as Lily to see a short, flustered boy running frantically at them waving a bright purple microphone. "Stop!" He cried in a thick Irish accent. They did.

"Thanks…" He panted. He took a moment to catch his breath before standing upright and giving the girls a wide, gap toothed smile.

"Hey, so, here's the story, 'kay? Me girl's having a fit, she's seen me with another lady, she 'as…but it wasn't like that, we was just talkin', swear. Thing is, I gotta go sort things out with her, and I cant if I'm screaming out to the Quidditch fans. You getting me here?" His wide eyes shimmered as they looked back and forth from Lily to Rowan. Lily caught on first.

"So you want one of us to commentate. Well, I could do it. James Potter would probably fall off his broom in shock if he heard me dictating his playing." She smiled and closed her eyes at the thought, envisioning it in perfect clarity. The boy raised a brow.

"Yea, well, I kinda meant the bird next to you. Here ya go doll." He said, giving a wink and thrusting the microphone into Rowan's hands. "Dig the funny hat!" He cried, flashing the thumbs up before turning and running towards the field entrance, where a long haired girl turned away from him, evidently in tears.

"What?" Rowan cried, staring after him in disbelief. "It's not my fault you're a dirty cheater and your girlfriend's got common sense! Do your job!" Frustrated, Rowan gave the microphone a hard smack. "…And my hat is not funny." She muttered, a little hurt.

"Well, you heard the man, Rowan!" Lily said, suddenly guiding her towards the Top Box. "He's got girl problems and needs you to take over, easy enough." Rowan dug her heels into the ground.

"No! I don't know enough about Quidditch, it will be a disaster. I can't fly, how am I supposed to narrate flight?" But Lily was determined, and soon Rowan found herself being pushed up the stairs to the Top Box by a very frustrated friend.

"Bloody hell, Rowan." Lily muttered as she pushed against Rowan's back. "Just walk up the stairs, I can't push you all the way there!" Rowan crossed her arms.

"You've pushed me this far, just a little longer won't hurt."

Obviously Lily thought it would. She gave a great push and Rowan was sent flying into the Top Box door. "Lock it once she's in there." She told a startled McGonagall as Rowan was thrust inside.

"Well, Miss Watkins…indeed a pleasure, but where did Ronald get to?" McGonagall asked, straightening her pointed hat.

"Girl problems," Rowan answered truthfully, glaring out at the stands. McGonagall shook her head.

"Three years he's done that, stupid boy…depending on how well you do today, Miss Watkins, we might just have a new commentator! Now, the game's about to begin. I'll assist you if you need it, but please put the microphone away from your mouth before muttering something to me, I cannot tell you how many times commentators have had entire conversations cast about the stadium. If you wish you can call Lily back here, but she's probably halfway down the stands by now." Rowan stared at the microphone, her hands slippery with sweat.

"You're right…I'll…I'll just narrate."

Rowan had to admit, though her stomach was tying itself in complicated knots, that the Top Box had a spectacular view of the field below. She could see everything from up here-the tall, yellow goal posts silhouetted against the dark grey sky and the field, a bright green canvas despite the death of all the other surrounding vegetation. Madame Hooch, clearly visible in bright canary yellow robes, strode out onto the field in the middle of the opposing players. Smiling to herself, Rowan craned her neck to see James Potter fidgeting on his broom. He was so dedicated to his Quidditch…why didn't Lily give the boy a chance? She figured she might have.

It happened so quickly Rowan barely had time to lift the microphone to her lips.

"Annnnnnnnd they're off, Gryffindor in possession of the Quaffle as the first match in our much anticipated Quidditch season begins!" She cried, her voice echoing around the stands. She smiled, imagining Lily seated with Alice (and, unwillingly, with the Mauraders), all cheering for her. Commentating actually wasn't so bad…

"And looks like it's Slytherin in possession! Oh-quick swerve there from Abbott, a little too far to the left to be effective kid…Unbelievable! Vort swoops underneath Gryffindor Beater at the last second to avoid a Bludger attack, but Addams is too swift. A Bludger to the shoulder! Brutal, but that's how these games are played folks."

It was actually a pleasant experience, spending the game in the Top Box. Rowan called out each foul with perfect clarity, and only once mislead James Potter to the Slytherin end of the field in pursuit of the Snitch. Things were going well, until the last quarter of the game had Slytherins winning by no less than 50 points.

"Come on now, Potter!" Rowan cried into her microphone, on the edge of her seat and surveying every inch of the field from her advantage point in Top Box. "The Snitch was RIGHT THERE, you've been going at this long enough to see that it was right under your nose!"

She screamed at James Potter, seizing fistfuls of curls from her head. "Come on, you CAN DO THIS!"

As the game progressed the weather only worsened. The wind chill dropped so sharply that even in the warm Top Box, stuffed into an oversized green coat and three sweaters, Rowan felt the chill and set the microphone down to rub her hands together, which were slowly turning a shade of blue. Out in the stands the students huddled together in large blocks of red or green for warmth, separating themselves even farther from their opposing teams and forcibly reminding Rowan of Christmas time. With half frozen hands Rowan lifted the microphone to her lips for the final countodown.

"And it's Slytherin in possession AGAIN. Come on lions, is this the best you can do? Put a little muscle into it, Beaters! I know it's cold but we've got to win this-Abbot steals the Quaffle, heading towards the Slytherin posts-"

The crowd waited with bated breath, but Abbot didn't score. Instead, a cleverly aimed Bludger caught her midair and she twirled over, nearly loosing her seat on the broom. From below a collective sigh rose from the stands. The game was severely disappointing, and only a few faithful fans still lingered…but then Rowan's eyes caught sight of a golden glimmer down at the Gyffindor end the same time Potter's did. With the crowd erupting into frantic cheering and standing in their seats, James Potter zoomed towards the Snitch, low on his broom, his long arms stretching out as he neared the fluttering ball.

"And Potter's seen the Snitch, he's seen it!" Rowan cried, jumping and clapping like a maniac as she shouted into the purple microphone. McGonagall was anticipating the win as well- she'd long lost her dignified manner, replacing it with giddy determination.

"Come on Potter." She murmured under her breath, her ruby lips barely moving. "Come on….YES!" And all formality was lost, as Potter caught the Snitch, the crowds went crazy, and Rowan found herself in a one armed hug with McGonagall, who had tossed her hat off in victory to reveal a tight black bun streaked with grey.

"And Gryffindor take the win, Slytherins the gallant losers-what a match, and such a suspenseful catch for our one and only Jaaaaames Potter!" And Rowan laughed as James took a few victory laps around the pitch, waving to screaming Gryffindor fan girls. She watched his round of glory and was surprised at the feeling spreading through her chest-a warm, fuzzy sort of feeling. Rowan pinched herself hard on her cold, grey skin. She could never fall for James Potter, she must always remember that.


	4. Chapter 4

Always (without fail) after a game the Gryffindor girls gathered in their dorm to discuss the match. Nothing escaped the reviews-the false foul called, the Slytherin beater's targeting of the Gryffindor chaser, or (much to Lily's annoyance) the hotness of James Potter. It was this topic the team was debating now, all huddled together on Rowan's bed with a large supply of Honeyduke's best chocolate on hold specifically for the discussion. Celestina Warbeck's voice hummed softly from the radio in the corner, and outside fat, sifted sugar snowflakes fell from the night sky, giving off a peaceful, Holiday card ambience.

"His arms are so toned." Alice Thewlis trilled, sighing meaningfully. Her doe like eyes sparkled in the warm torch light, and a number of girls joined in her swooning, some even going so far as to close their eyes and envision Potter's arms wrapped around them while soaring through evening sky on a broom. Lily was slumped against the wall between her and Rowan's beds, lazily fishing pickles from a large jar and ignoring the entire conversation. To her, to check out James Potter was little more than sin.

"And did you see that smile?" A girl named Tabitha breathed, her eyes going distant at the thought. Alice giggled loudly.

"Mmmhhmm. How could I miss that?" She and Tabitha broke out into loud, girlish giggles and Lily narrowed her eyes.

"Alice, you're practically dating Frank. What on earth are you doing checking out Potter?" She asked, fishing another pickle from the jar. "He's not even that good looking…" Alice gaped at Lily.

"Not even that good looking? Well, aren't you hard to please!" Lily shrugged.

"Seems you're too easy." Alice opened her mouth to comment, but decided against arguing and instead took a square of Coconut Ice from Rowan.

"And just because I'm seeing Longbottom doesn't mean I can't look, Lily. I'm only human." Lily snorted.

"I'll bet Frank says the same thing when people catch him eyeing Marlene McKinnon." She said airily, grinning at Alice. Alice made a low growling noise under her breath.

"Come on girls." Tabitha said, crossing her legs at the end of the bed. "Let's not fight. It ruins the imaging." And with that she closed her eyes and smiled dreamily, no doubt imaging Potter in his knickers. That was Tabitha.

"Oh, barf." Lily said. "Can we stop hero-worshipping James and get on with discussing that foul called against Mary?" Tabitha, who had been humming softly, snapped upright, a wild gleam in her blue eyes.

"You called him James! Oooh, Liiiilly." She cried, nudging her in the hip. Lily gave her a disgusted look and began fishing another pickle from the jar.

"That doesn't mean a thing," She said loftily. "It's his proper name, after all." Tabitha smirked.

"Mmmhhm. Then what's Potter, a loving petname?" Lily flushed a bright scarlet from her cheeks to collar and, with as much strength as she could muster, tossed a bright red pillow at Tabitha, where it hit her square in the face. Tabitha looked momentarily shocked before tossing the pillow back at Lily, seeing her bright face and yelling, "Hey! Lily likes James! Lily likes James!" Alice appeared over Tabitha's shoulder, her eyes wide.

"Merlin's pants, she does like him! Look at those cheeks, that's not blush!" Tabitha and Alice looked at each other, identical wide grins on their round faces. "Oooooooooh!" They chimed together, advancing towards Lily, where they linked arms and chorused together in singsong voices- "Lily and James, sittin' in a tree. K-I-S-S-I-N-G. First comes love, then comes maaaaariage, then comes baby in the baby carriage!" They cried, pounding out the last words in obnoxiously loud voices. Rowan couldn't help but laugh as a frustrated Lily curled up in her bed and wrenched the curtains around herself so tight they puckered at the edge, burying her head under her pillow. Meanwhile, Tabitha and Alice had taken to prancing about the room, chanting in unison:

"Lily likes James, Lily likes James, Lily likes James!"


	5. Chapter 5

"So how long have you liked him?" Rowan asked, as she and Lily walked briskly through the snowy streets of Hogsmeade. They had left behind their studies for a little Christmas shopping, but it was obvious the fresh air wasn't doing Lily any good. Her flame red hair shielded her face, and she said, in a sharp hiss without even looking at Rowan, "Rowan Watkins, I told you not to bring that up. Especially not here. Good lord…especially not here." And she cast a worried glance over her shoulder, as if James Potter could pop out of the snow any second and yell "Surprise Lily!". Rowan snickered as the image played in her mind's eye, the day dream Lily whacking him over his "inflated, pompous" head with a shovel she unearthed from the giant bag she always carried around. 'That's probably what's in there after all.' Rowan thought to herself, smiling at the weight of the purple bag. Lily looked at her.

"What are you smirking about?" She asked darkly, glowering menacingly at the passerbys, who shrunk away from her with their shopping. One mother even went so far as to move her children to the opposite side of the street, and Rowan laughed as the lady hurried her daughters off, throwing glances back at Lily.

"Geez Lily, what'd you do to that lady?" She chortled. Lily gave her a look, and she smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry."

Lily narrowed her eyes, then proceeded to stomp through the snow towards Zoko's in a huff. Rowan followed, traveling back a few paces. When Lily was in a rage she let the whole world know. In their fifth year she'd gotten so upset at Severus that she hexed him twelve times in the Charms corridor and refused to accept any punishment from McGonagall or Dumbledore, saying "the slimy git deserved what he got!" before stomping around in fury for two days. Extreme, yes, but that was Lily in a mood and today Rowan was on thin ice.

"Let's get into Zonko's, my hands are frozen." Lily said, shivering as she pushed past a group of carolers towards the shop, upsetting their song papers. Rowan offered an apologetic smile and a "Happy Christmas" as she slipped by them, though this thoughtfulness was wasted when she trampled one of the youngest's song books, reducing him to tears.

"Nice job Rowan. Make a kid cry." Lily said acidly. She'd been waiting for Rowan outside the shop, and her eagle eyes had seen everything. Rowan bit her lip, forcing down her temper. She couldn't get mad at Lily. Not here, not now…besides, she didn't have a chance against her in a mood anyway. No one did…especially James Potter, Lily's favorite mood target.

"Well I tried being nice, and it backfired. Can we get inside now? I can't feel my legs."

"Me either." Lily said, adjusting her beret. "Because of you." She ducked into the shop, Rowan following reluctantly and several paces behind.

"We need to find some things for the prank." Lily muttered, mostly to herself, as she began to pull things off the shelf at random. The owner was watching her curiously from the register as she demolished a display of Darkness Powders, but she didn't seem to notice-or care, by the way she tossed things aside and raised her brows at battered boxes of Enchanted Chirping Crickets.

"How do some of these things even sell?" She asked, holding up a fake rubber chicken, it's head lolling to the side unpleasantly. Rowan smiled, removing her hat. She'd long replaced the nasty green one of the Quidditch match for a light purple beret like Lily's.

"I don't know, I kinda like it. How much?" Lily just sighed as Rowan began to examine the featherless bird, giving it a squeeze, where it made a loud squawking sound.

"Brilliant!" Rowan cried, but Lily didn't even crack a smile. What a fun day it was turning out to be.

Despite Lily's best efforts to ruin the trip entirely, Rowan's spirits couldn't help but be lifted upon walking into Zonko's. Ever since she was a child it had been her favorite shop, with her tugging at her mother every time she took her along on shopping trips and begging to stay awhile. She loved the bright yellow wallpaper, striking contrast against the high, jet black metal shelves stocked full of every sort of joke item you could think of. She loved how the places always smelled faintly of gunpowder, joke wands were sold for 10 knuts a piece in a large, cauldron shaped bin by the doorway, and the display of Darkness Powders Lily was currently examining. The powders almost disappeared against their black shelves, looking ominous in steel, potbelly tins with spidery cursive bearing the product name. Everywhere Rowan looked there was some new item to be discovered, and the excited chatter of children rang out throughout the store over the cashiers pounding on the registers, causing them to click open with a merry DING!

Rowan smiled to herself, making her way through tightly packed aisle ways of Nose Biting Teacups and Joke Sweets. She was examining a bright display of Wet Start, No Heat Filibuster Fireworks when a familiar head of untidy black hair caught her eye.

"Potter?"

The boy jumped, then, realizing the bright hair belonged not to Lily but Rowan, turned to face her with a wide grin. His hazel eyes shone behind his thick frames, and Rowan felt a sudden flurry of butterflies that were unfortunately hard to ignore.

"Didn't expect to run into you here." He said smoothly, running his fingers through the back of his already untidy hair. Rowan bit her lip, looking up at him shyly.

"Didn't think I'd see myself in here either…" She said, jerking her head in the direction of Lily, who was studying a Grow Your Own Warts kit. "Lily's in a mood." James stood on tiptoe to get a better look at his beloved, towering over Rowan. She leaned forward slightly, catching a sharp, woodsy scent coming from his robes. So James Potter wore cologne. Well, that wasn't a big deal, plenty of wizards did, Rowan tried to tell herself. She even swore she'd smelled it somewhere before, on someone with a lot of shaggy black hair, but on James it was more powerful. It smelled better, somehow…Rowan shook her head, hoping to clear it of the thoughts jumbled around inside. She couldn't be thinking about James Potter this way. Especially not when he-

"I see you've noticed my cologne."

Embarrassed that she'd been caught sniffing (good lord, of all things) James Potter, Rowan pretended to be very interested in the Fireworks, marveling at all the different colors and styles. Thank god Lily had been watching.

"James Potter, you snake!" She cried, stumbling over a group of excited third years in her determination to meet her prey. James gulped.

"Uh oh."

For the poor boy knew, along with everyone else in the store, that Lily Evans was in one of her moods and needed to take her anger out on someone…and that someone had been found.

"Making sure we don't buy anything too dangerous, eh Potter?" She hissed, poking him roughly in the chest. James winced, taking her hand by the wrist and prying it away from him.

"No. Can't a man spend a day in Hogsmeade without anyone threatening to cut his bloody head off?" He'd swam into dangerous waters. Lily's cheeks flushed a bright red and when she spoke it was through clenched teeth.

"You know perfectly well that you're not just shopping. You were hoping to get a head start in that prank we're battling to pull. Weren't you?" She squeaked, her voice struggling to contain its forced calm. James's eyes moved from Lily's to the floor, where he dug into the bright carpet with the toe of his boots shamefully. Lily placed her hands on her hips.

"Well, I was right. The cat's out of the bag now Rowan. If he's going to play dirty, then hell-we will too." And suddenly she was scooping up everything in sight, her arms loading with oddly shaped boxes and whirling items. She looked at Rowan.

"Well, what are you just standing around for? Buy things!" And on that order Rowan gave James one sorry look, then began to scoop up boxes of Wet Start, No Heat Fireworks at rapid speed.

"We're behind."

That was the first thing Lily said the next morning, as she lounged in the window seat with a long Quill and a piece of parchment that wound its way to the floor. Rowan was busy by a small circular table, staring at the mass of tiny objects whizzing, flashing, or chirping that Lily had bought the day before. She was supposed to be taking inventory, but honestly couldn't tell where to start, as Lily had bought so many of the same objects she had trouble counting them all and some items were enchanted to move and fly. Earlier that morning Alice had awoken to find one of the Teacups that had freed itself from the bag attached to her nose, and it had taken a full ten minutes to pry off.

"So we got a late start. We only made the deal a month ago, how far could they have gotten?" The look on Lily's face was all that Rowan needed. With a sinking feeling she went back to attempting to take inventory. James and his band of merry men had probably already bought and planned something intricate in the hours after their little hallway meeting…and, if they did, there was almost no catching up. Like James had said-"The Marauders don't disappoint."

"We need something unique." Alice said, lounging on Lily's bed and sucking dreamily on a bright orange Sugar Quill. "Something that's not remotely like anything those boys have ever done before." Rowan nodded.

"I agree with you on that one, madam, but that's the problem. What haven't they done before?" It was a valid question. The room was silent as everyone mused, the clock on the wall ticking slowly. The pairs of blank eyes that met Rowan's told her all she needed to know-they all had nothing. James had done everything imaginable to this school, which left the girls fresh out of ideas.

"I've got nothing." Lily said glumly, making a mark on her parchment. The girls sat in silence for a few moments, and Rowan went back to taking inventory. Just as she was about to scribble down a box of Filibusters it hit her.

"Fireworks." She whispered, her face splitting into a wide grin. "They've never done fireworks."

Alice's eyes widened and she leapt off the bed, trapping Rowan in a fierce bear hug and squeezing her tight.

"Oh, you're so right! They have never done fireworks. Rowan, you're a genius! A genius…and we've got ten boxes right here!" She squealed and snatched the list from Rowan.

"One, two, three, four…yep, ten, right here!" She turned and smiled at Rowan. "Do you know how big this is? Fireworks beat out anything those guys have done before!"

Rowan laughed. Alice's childish excitement was infectious.

"Yea, it's like Christmas came early or something." She said slyly. Alice gave her a playful swat.

"Shut it, you. This is a breakthrough! Lily?"

Lily didn't answer. She was studying her list intently, her brow furrowed and her hair falling in thick bunches in front of her eyes. After a few seconds she looked up at Alice, her emerald eyes shining.

"You know, I think that just might be crazy enough to work. What kind do you want to use though? That company's got only fifty different types." Rowan took the parchment from Lily and spread it out on the table, making a little spot for it amongst the various joke products.

"I think before deciding that we need a plan first. Lily? Care to draw?"

Soon they were all seated around the little table, looking at a bright green, squiggly line that Lily was labeling 'Castle'.

"Now, I think our best position would be-yes, Rowan?" She asked sweetly, for Rowan had raised her hand into the air and was waiting patiently to be called upon.

"Yes, Lily…what is that?" She asked, as Alice giggled. Lily scowled.

"It's the castle, you dolt. If you think you can do better be my guest." She held out the Quill to Rowan, who shook her curls.

"No, no. I know that one of these days you're going to join the ranks of the greatest artists of our time Lily, but for now I've got let you hone your skills." Lily gave her a look, but a smile tugged at the corners of her red lips.

"Okay, okay. I'll fix it later. But we still need to find out what type of fireworks we should use…Rowan, again?"

"I propose Filibusters. They make a sizable spark and a wonderful sizzling noise." Lily gave an appreciative laugh and scribbled it down in her neat handwriting in the margin of the parchment. Alice had unearthed a huge box of Chocolate Frogs from somewhere and was now handing them out around the table. Comfortable with chocolate and snow falling gently outside, the girls bent their heads low over the parchment and began to plan.


	6. Chapter 6

The following Monday found Rowan lounging outside with Sirius and Remus, unwinding with a much needed snowball fight after completing three rolls of parchment for McGonagall to be turned in the next day. Rowan had caught Sirius in the chest with a well-aimed snowball, and he was in mid throw when he stiffened suddenly, the snowball falling to his side. A wide, evil grin curved his fine features upward, and he jerked his head sideways.

"Hey Rowan-look who joined us." And there he was. Severus Snape, his greasy black hair hanging down to his shoulders in long strings, his hook nose protruding about an inch from that mess and his robes several inches too short in the ankle. He was slouching off towards the Lake, a giant, morocco bound book in hand, his wand protectively clutched in the other and pressed against his chest. Ever since James had disarmed him in fifth year, he'd gone to carrying it like a newborn child. Remus, who had been lying in the snow following an attack by Sirius, raised himself up on his elbows and shot Sirius a blazing look, his tawny eyes daring him to make a move. He never joined in when the boys tortured Snivellus, but then again he was the kindest of the group. Rowan looked towards Sirius and winked, and the two headed off towards the edge of the Lake intently, eyes set on Severus. He positioned himself as far away as he could get from the merry ice skaters on the Lake, and had settled under a twisted dead tree that hung limply over him, branches heavy with frost. Rowan watched as he pulled out the giant book from under his arm, opening it up slowly and pulling a rather bent Quill from the inside of his robes. Sirius snatched Rowan's wrist and pulled her behind a thick pine, where the two had a perfect view of the boy through a small hole in the vegetation. Snivellus shot the laughing skaters a bitter look, and then began to scribble furiously in the large book, his hooked nose so close to the parchment it was centimeters away from touching it.

"Someone should get that boy some glasses." Rowan muttered, watching in disgust as Snape tossed his slimy hair from his eyes and lowered himself even closer to the parchment. Sirius chuckled and Snape's head turned so fast he rubbed his neck in pain, wand pointed towards the tree. Rowan quickly stuck her hand over Sirius's mouth to keep him from laughing at the snarling expression on Snapes pallid face, but Snivelly didn't seem to find anything out of place. His eyes lingered on the tree a second longer before they hastily turned back to his book, and he began scribbling even faster. Sirius's eyes gleamed maliciously as he turned to Rowan. "Is that…a diary?" He sniggered. Rowan laughed, quickly stifling herself as Snape looked around again, wand aloft. "It certainly looks it, doesn't it?" She whispered.

Sirius placed a finger to his lips and snuck to the edge of the tree, parting it slightly to create a jagged hole where Snape was just visible. "I think it's time for an intervention." He whispered, his eyes gleaming. And with that, he strode into the bright sunlight, a wide grin on his face and his hands stuffed into his pockets, straightening his back as he went. Taking one last look at Snape through the hole, Rowan tossed her hair over her shoulder and followed.

It took a few moments for Snape to realize he had visitors. Sirius was about a foot away from him when his foot snapped a small twig, and the secretive Snivellus instantly whirled around, wand at the ready. His lips curled into a nasty sneer as his eyes locked with his enemies' and he bolted upright, snapping his leather book shut and dropping it onto the ground. "Keep away from me, you!" He snarled, jabbing his wand in Sirius's direction. Several gold sparks fizzled from the tip and into the snow, burning holes to the grass. Sirius smirked over his shoulder, then raised both his hands in mock surrender.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Snivellus!" He taunted. "No need to draw wands, Rowan and I were merely taking a stroll around the Lake." Snape's cold eyes darted towards Rowan, who stepped beside Sirius, hands on hips.

"A lovely. early winter stroll…which, I'd like to say, we are perfectly free to do." Sirius winked and Snape raised his wand a little higher, leaning down to retrieve his book, eyes all the while still focused on Sirius, cold and threatening as always.

"Don't come near me." He said, his voice shaking with hatred. Sirius took a small step forward and Snape's eyes bulged. "I said don't come near me!" He shrieked. Rowan looked towards Sirius, and their eyes met. Sirius winked twice and Rowan returned the signal, knowing what they had planned. Snape did not miss the exchange. He'd seen James trade this exact look with Sirius for far too long not to recognize it.

"Flipendo!" He shrieked, pointing his wand at Sirius. The jinx soared towards Sirius who, not having his wand at the ready, flew backwards and hit the ground with a large thud.

"Sirius!" Rowan cried, rushing towards him. He took the hand she offered him and sat up, dusting off his robes, his face a light shade of red, contorted with rage. His shaggy hair fell over his eyes as he staggered towards Snape, wand drawn.

"You…Snivellus. You disgusting little…" Snape's lip curled, his eyes daring Sirius to continue-which he did, with all happiness. "Coward." Sirius spat, pointing his wand at Snape. At this word Snape's face turned a blotchy, bright red, his eyes bulged in their sockets and his lips curled upwards into a threatening snarl.

"Don't…" He sputtered deeply, his lips barely even forming the words, "Call me…a COWARD!" He raised his wand, but someone else was quicker. A tall, messy haired, bespectacled someone.

"Levicorpus!" At the word Snape was instantly hoisted upward, dangling above the ground in midair. His wand fell from his hand, along with his precious book, into a high snow bank below.

"Thought you'd like to join us, Potter!" Rowan cried. They were saved. James Potter was not about to let Severus get away with his wand waving…and it showed. James face was as red as Snape's, his hazel eyes slits beneath his glasses, devoid of their usual merry sparkle. He was grinning, too. Grinning in a rather nasty, angry sort of way, his lips twitching at the sides as though the smile was physically hurting him.

"You think that you can get away with jinxing Sirius Black, eh Snivellus?" He growled, moving to stand under Snape. He looked up at him, and between the two one could see the hatred etched deep as lines in their faces. "You think that you, a lowly little Death Eater hopeful, can possibly compare to a wizard of the likes of Sirius Black?" He sneered, thrusting his wand up at Snape. "Do you?"

Snape wriggled in the air for a moment, trapped as though by invisible bonds, then stopped and glared at Potter. "You twit." He hissed, and he spat on Potter's shoes.

"James!"

It was Lily. She must have heard the commotion from the lake with Alice, but James, for once, did not seem to notice her. The smile curved downward into a menacing frown, and he took one look at Snape and wiped his shoe in the deep snow. Everyone around the Lake was now watching with bated breath, watching the story unfold with anxious eyes. Frank Longbottom was watching with his mouth open, not even paying attention to where he was going, and skated off the ice into a large snow bank. Nobody knew quite what James Potter would do… but, knowing him, it couldn't be anything good. There was a sharp cracking sound and suddenly Snape was soaring into the Lake, tumbling through the air as if on strings. He landed with a loud splash, the ice breaking away to make room for him in the icy water. James blew onto his wand and stuffed it back into his pocket, like a gun in an old western sling belt, and gave a nod to his cheering fan girls. It was too much for Lily. Hair rippling behind her, she ran towards Snape, who at the moment was thrashing about in the middle of the lake. He was bobbing up and down in the deep water, struggling to stay afloat, gasping and flapping his long, bat like arms.

"That's what you get when you mess with the Marauders, Snivelly!" James cried heartily as Snape made it back onto the shore, spluttering and tossing his stringy hair out of his eyes. James grinned at Sirius before turning and walking casually back to the castle, humming as he went. Sirius ran after him and the two began to mimic Snape's fall, arms waving wildly as they laughed together. Lily simply stood there, staring at Snape with a rather strange expression on her face. It was a mixture of pity and anger, her eyes hard but with a certain softness to them as she moved towards Snape.

"Lils?"

Lily whirled around, the softness all but gone from her eyes. Her nostrils flared and her cheeks burned a delicate pink, shining from the soft snow..

"WHAT?" She roared, causing Rowan to take several steps back in alarm and stumble over Snivelly's book. "Don't you have anything to say for yourself?" she gestured angrily towards Snape, who now was picking up his book and quill, dripping water over everything. "For this?" And suddenly Rowan's temper got the best of her.

"Yea, I do." She said acidly, giving Lily a disgusted look and turning towards the castle, "That boy could do with a few more baths."


	7. Chapter 7

Word had gotten around the next morning about James Potter's latest attack on Snape, and stories of how he'd dunked him into the Lake were spreading like wildfire. Even Lily found the story amusing once she'd cooled down a bit, though she flat out refused to laugh about it in front of James.

"If he knew I thought it was funny, he'd do it 100 times over." Lily explained to Rowan on their way to breakfast. "And even though Severus and I are no longer friends, it still feels wrong to give people permission to pick on him like that."

Winter was quickly taking it's toll on Hogwarts and the surrounding landscapes, and the following morning everyone awakened to about two feet of new snow piled outside on the dormitory window and the Hogsmeade trip canceled for that day. Sadly this meant Lily and Rowan couldn't purchase any more joke items, but they weren't exactly complaining. Saturdays were always the worst days to waste, but it seemed as though everyone in the castle was in an incredibly warm, lazy mood, even the teachers. McGonagall didn't even bother to tell off Rowan as she and Sirius skidded down the corridors after James in a completely immature game of tag, but instead merely cautioned them to slow down instead of writing three detentions. Peeves blew wet raspberries as usual but even he stopped when asked, which was very uncharacteristic of the poltergeist. By the time darkness settled over Hogwarts, Rowan thought the atmosphere would be perfect to discuss the newest matchmaking plan with James.

"Are we up for another painful year of matchmaking, James?" She asked, cornering him that night in a deserted section of the library. James's eyes shone beneath his glasses.

"When am I never up for a little romance? Where's the pen, sign me up!"

"Okay, okay," Rowan giggled, dropping her bag to the floor and seating herself on a long wooden table. "I've got a few new plans for you, and I even went so far as to draw them out in red ink. Just for you Potter." She winked.

James rubbed his hands together excitedly. "Excellent. You have the papers, I assume?" Rowan fished them out of her bag, waving them in front of his face. With his Seeker reflexes he snatched the papers right out from under her nose, moving them to a dim oil light where his eyes skated over the pages greedily. After a few minutes he looked up at Rowan, his eyes wide.

"Rowan…" He whispered excitedly, his eyes flashing from the paper to her and back again, "These are epic!" Rowan smiled.

"I try."

Every term since fourth year the two of them worked at a masterplan to hopefully get Potter a date with Evans, but every year the plans had somehow or the other gone awry. However, James obviously saw promise in the new blueprints, as he was nearly beside himself as his eyes raced over the notes and bullet point suggestions.

"I swear, Watkins, it would be a real scummy thing to do since I'm after your friend but I could kiss you right now, these are amazing!" Rowan blushed as James stuffed the papers into his bag, carefully folding them into the tiniest pocket. Sirius was always stealing things from James's bag, and the last thing he needed to see was these romantic game plans from Rowan Watkins.

"Glad you like them." She muttered, trying to set herself straight. Why did she always have to be like this around him? It just wasn't fair. Wasn't fair that he didn't even notice her flustered cheeks as he bade her goodnight, didn't have eyes for anyone but Lily Evans…

Rowan slung her bag over her shoulders and stomped out of the library, knocking a few first years out of the way in her hurry. Stupid, perfect, emerald eyed Lily Evans…. She didn't even like the boy, and yet he fawned over her every chance he got. Rowan came to a huffy stop in front of the Fat Lady.

"Nymphs." She said sulkily, crossing her arms. The Fat Lady looked at her.

"Now what's got your knickers in a twist?" She asked loudly, causing several nearby boys to snicker loudly. Rowan shot them a glare and tossed her curls out of her eyes.

"None of your business. Nymphs." But the Fat Lady wasn't going to give up that easily.

"Oh come on, you can tell me. Who've I got to spread the secret too, I'm a portrait for heavens sakes!" Rowan rolled her eyes, impatient with the questioning.

"Oh, I don't know, how about every bloody Gryffindor that has to pass you every night? You just might decide to slip something to them!" The Fat Lady narrowed her eyes and swung forward on her hinges to admit Rowan, but just as she was halfway through swung herself shut, sending Rowan flying backward into the heavy stone banisters.

"THat'll teach you to sass off to me, Missy!" She chortled, her chins wobbling in her frame. "I may be a portrait but I still have feelings!" Rowan brushed dust off her skirt, trying to ignore the burning in her face as the group of boys laughed openly at her expense. On her way through the portrait hole she stopped, and turned to face the Fat Lady.

"Just so you know, I have easy access to the kitchens, and last time I was in there, there was a very nice, very sharp set of cutlery that would be perfect for ripping something soft, like canvas, for example, to shreds." The Fat Lady gasped as Rowan's frown spread upward into a twisted, evil grin.

"You wouldn't dare!" She shrieked, raising a hand over her mouth. Rowan stumbled through the portrait hole, her temper flaring.

"You have no idea what I would and would never do."

That night Rowan didn't feel like talking to Lily…or anyone else in the dorm, for that matter. After Lily had failed in asking Rowan to join three games of Exploding Snap she gave up trying and instead of persuading her to join (or forcing, as she normally would have done) gave her a sorry look and allowed her to sulk in her bed, curtains tightly closed. Long after the lights had gone out Rowan slipped out of bed and into her slippers, quietly taking the purple pump from under Lily's bed and propping it between the door. Shivering, she tied her robe tightly and set one foot on the cold tile, gasping a little at the sharp coldness. Cautiously, she padded down the stairs, stopping to pause at a creak or crackle of the burning Common Room fire. She didn't quite know where she was going. All she knew was that James and his boys were probably out late tonight, and she was keen to avoid them.

The Fat Lady yawned, licking spittle off her crimson lips when Rowan roused her from her deep sleep, but thankfully she didn't catch a glimpse of her as she slipped into the corridor. The Fat Lady swung shut with a defining click and Rowan was alone…again.

In no time at all she found herself heading towards the kitchens, keen on slipping one of those long knives in the pocket of her robe and heading back upstairs, but she decided against it last minute and instead roamed the hall. The flickering torches cast eerie, shadowy shapes that swayed and darted against the cobbled walls, and from a tall window she could see a black, empty stretch of canvas, upon which fresh flakes of snow fell. I was peaceful, in a strange sort of way, and Rowan curled up in a corner by the window, opening it a crack and leaning her head against the wall. She closed her eyes, listening to the still silence, feeling the icy air tingle her skin, and smiled. She was insane, sitting here on the floor in the dark, enjoying the solitude. All she needed was to rock slightly and have some poor soul stumble upon her to be admitted to St. Mungos. Her curls, weather tossed and stringy with December sleet, hung about her face and her hands were ice cold. Ignoring her bodies plea for warmth she stuffed them into the pockets of her robe and ambled down the hall a little farther, letting the light of the full moon guide her way. She wondered where the boys were on this starry night. Probably nicking food from the kitchens. Rowan imagined the elves swarming around them, thrusting biscuits and chicken legs into Sirius's outstretched palms. If left alone at mealtime that boy could probably devour all the plates on the Gryffindor table in record time, then belch, annouce he was still hungry, and shovel down Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs next. He wouldn't dare touch the Slytherins food, declaring it "contaminated and therefore unsafe for consumption." That was just the nature of Sirius Black. And people thought he was such a charmer… Rowan chuckled softly in the darkness. Well, she had news for them.

"Who's there?"

It was Filch. Carrying a lantern and bobbing slowly down the hall, with ever faithful Mrs. Norris on his heels, he stopped in his tracks, his cat doing the same, and listened. Rowan slipped down another corridor, peering around its stone wall to keep a watchful eye on the enemy.

"Eh? Could'a sworn I heart summin', my sweet…" He mumbled to his cat, scratching his oily head. "Sounds like a wee student out of bed to me. Come, the moon's still bright. If we 'eard them this close, they can't be far…when its light they can only hide so many places." The sounds of his loafers echoed around the halls, and Rowan was thankful she'd listened to her instincts and worn socks as the light of Filch's lantern cast a light glow around the corner of her corridor and she broke into a run. She didn't stop until she saw a large oak door at the end of the hall and she skidded inside, her fingers shaking and clumsy with cold as she rummaged around her pockets for her wand.

"Alohomora!"

With a soft click the door locked and Rowan fell against it, resting her head on her knees. How long could she keep doing things like this? With Filch weezing outside it would be three in the morning before she even got to the portrait hole, and when she didn't wake up the next morning for lessons what would Lily do? She'd have to be trapped in Potions with James Potter all by herself. At this thought Rowan envisioned them cuddling over a simmering love potion, inhaling deeply while staring into the other's eyes. Well, if that's what would happen, let it. Lily had proved herself on more than one occasion-if Rowan missed Potions Lily could handle it. She wiped sweat from her brow, turning to sit in a vacant desk when he spoke.

"Rowan?"

Rowan jumped so high she believed someone unseen muttered Levicorpus behind her back. She came back down (painfully) to the small wooden seat, then slid off it in shock and onto the cold floor. He moved closer.

"Are you alright?"

"Yea…." Rowan muttered, dusting herself off and taking Sirius's hand, "Just…. Frightened me a little." Sirius let out his sharp, bark like laugh.

"Evidently. What are you doing out this late?" Rowan raised a brow at him.

"I could ask you the same." Sirius shrugged, smirking slightly.

"Touché. I'll tell you what I was up to if you tell me what you were doing."

"Not on my life Black." Rowan said, moving to stand by the window. "I'd sooner swap my wand with a goblin than tell you what I was doing out of bed."

"Such harsh words, Rowan." He said, moving to stand beside her. "There's no need for such anger." He placed his hands in the pockets of his robes and bobbed a little on his heels for a minute before turning to Rowan and saying, quite conversationally, "The moon's bright tonight." Rowan crossed her arms. What had started out as a pleasant night had taken a turn for the worse.

"Yea, I guess." She answered, staring out at the sky. Black smiled.

"Hope James and the gang are having fun." This caught Rowan's attention.

"What?"

Sirius's onyx eyes went wide and he looked away from her, realizing he'd said something wrong.

"Nothing…it's…nothing." He said, his voice faltering.

"Why aren't you with them?" Rowan asked, leaning against the windowsill. Sirius Black was almost never seen without James Potter. If you came across one you came across the other, it had been that way ever since first year and wasn't about to change anytime soon. After a moment of silence, during which Sirius pondered her question, he deemed it safe to answer.

"I had some work to do…detention, see." He said, noticing the confused look on Rowan's face. She laughed.

"That makes sense. Isn't detention the only time you do any work?" Sirius laughed, his black hair falling into delicate spirals around his eyes.

"Right on that one, Watkins." He admitted, snatching a piece of parchment from a nearby desk and lazily transforming it into a paper airplane. He leaned back on the windowsill and offered it to Rowan, who took it and aimed for the dustbin on the other side of the room. They both watched it glide through the air, where it landed just a little outside the bin.

"Nice one." Sirius said, snickering. Rowan smiled.

"Why're you spending your night in the Charms classroom?" She called across the room as she retrieved the plane and handed it back to Sirius, who tossed it towards the desk.

"Just strolling…" He said, taking the crumpled plane from the floor and making it glide back to Rowan, who caught it. "Almost got into a scrape with Filch like you did."

Rowan tossed the airplane towards the bin again-it missed.

"He's patrolling this corridor? Why?" Sirius smirked mischievously.

"Well, let's just say he had a tip off from a certain red haired someone that a few rule breaking prats would be up to something on this very floor." He tossed the plane at Rowan's target, and it soared with perfect precision into the dustbin. Rowan scowled.

"James was stupid enough to tell Lily where we were preparing our prank, so you can guess how that played out."

"Yea, I can." Rowan said darkly. "The little snitch went straight to McGonagall like a good little girl, didn't she?" Sirius laughed.

"Easy there, Watkins." He chortled, crumpling the plane in his hands. "Isn't this girl, you know, your best friend?"


	8. Chapter 8

Rowan laughed.

"Yea, yea. Can't a lady get a little frustrated sometimes?" Sirius was silent for a moment, as though pondering the question. His onyx eyes flashed over Rowan and the corners of his mouth turned into a mischievous smirk as he moved closer to her. Rowan shivered in her thin gown, though not from cold.

"Of course…" He said, sliding his arm around her shoulders, "We all do."

Rowan looked at him. "Guess its-" But before she could finish her sentence, Sirius leaned over and silenced her with a kiss, one of his strong hands on her back and the other entangled in her long, bright curls. It took a moment for the situation to truly sink in, but once it did, Rowan wasted no time in reacting.

"Umpf!"

Sirius doubled over, crouched on the stone floor like a child, whimpering in pain. Rowan had taken advantage of this vulnerable time and though she felt guilty for kicking him there, retreated to the farthest corner of the classroom and sat upon a creaky desk. She waited until he had regained control, using the window ledge to support himself, to smirk at him. Slowly he turned around to face her, his sleek hair falling into his eyes.

"Rowan!" He cried, panting slightly, "I….didn't think you had it in you!" Rowan shrugged.

"You came after me. What was I supposed to do?"

Sirius groaned, standing straight then deciding it was too much and slumping over again. "I don't know…enjoy it?" Rowan rolled her eyes.

"Please." They were silent for a few moments as Sirius straightened himself out, then he rose to his full height and murmured, "I'm serious…"

And he began to move towards Rowan.

"Don't you dare try again!" She cried, darting behind a desk and waving her wand frantically in his face. "I swear I'll hex you with this then use it to gouge out your eyes, Sirius Black!" But Sirius wasn't listening. With one lazy flick he skillfully disarmed her, catching her wand in his free hand and pocketing it next to his.

"Oh, really?" He said smoothly, leaning on the desk Rowan now cowered behind. "Without a wand?" Rowan fumed.

"Alright, what are you going to make me do to get it back?" She demanded. " I would have thought after I just attacked you this wouldn't be happening. I mean, come on, can't you see I like someone else? Oh, bugger…You didn't need to know that. Just, forget it, alright? I never said…" Her voice trailed off as she realized he wasn't listening.

"Rowan, you'll never get it if you don't now." He said, leaning in closer. "I've fancied you almost as long as James' been after Evans. I've been painfully, painfully obvious. Fighting back made you all the more attractive. Men always want what they cant have…" He strolled around the table to Rowan, taking a long orange curl between his fingers and letting it spring back into place.

"And you," He said, leaning low to whisper in her ear, "Are exactly that."

He was behind her now, and Rowan gasped as he placed his hands around her waist and rested his chin on her head, sighing heavily. Rowan's mind was a mile a minute, her thoughts racing, tumbling over the other.

'Fight or flight….wand's in his pocket…could reach it right now…but then he'd notice…damn…damn,damn,damn,damn,DAMN…it does not help he smells like James Potter…what if I seduced him? Two can play at this game…though ew, come on….'

"Rowan…." Sirius said, his voice low and inviting, "Come on now, don't be like this…" Rowan closed her eyes tight, stiffening her whole body so as not to invite him further. He didn't get it.

"You keep avoiding me, how is that fair?" He asked, his voice right in her ear. "I can't help myself. I mean, come on…just look at you. Look at you." Rowan half smiled at the thought of what Lily would say to this last comment. Thinking of Lily made Rowan think of James Potter, and thinking of James Potter made Rowan think of what Lily would do if James lost his marbles and dared put her in this situation-and that gave her an idea.

"Sirius Black, give your filthy hands off me." She growled. Like Sirius she kept her voice low, but unlike Black, hers contained none of his warmth. Sirius didn't move.

"Sirius Black, I told you to get your filthy hands off me." She hissed, this time more loudly. He still did not move. By now, Rowan was beginning to worry. Her intentions were clear, and yet his arms were still wrapped around her waist…and, Merlin, was it possible she was enjoying it? Rowan waited a minute, allowing herself to relax in his arms. Sure, it was a lot warmer, but something…something just didn't seem right. Here she was, in the arms of Hogwart's most desirable bachelor, and she was wishing she could wriggle free.

"Sirius-" She said again, louder this time.

"Mm?" He said, the hand on her waist trailing down to her thigh. Rowan froze. She didn't know what to do. She didn't mind Black's touch, which surprised her. Hadn't the man of the hour been, until most recently, the unattainable James Potter? Thinking of James brought her attention again back to Lily, and she suddenly wished Lily was here, to kick Black's arse. Lily would know what to do, she always did. Without Lily, Rowan realized, she'd lost her best defense. And yet…

"You haven't resisted." Black said, smiling. His warm breath flowed around her ear, and Rowan shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, you've…kinda got me pinned here." His grip tightened.

"That's my intention." And he spun her around so that she faced him, and that was when Rowan did it.

Snatching her wand from his pocket she raised it to his eyes and poked him, a sharp jab in each pupil. Black doubled over in pain again, clutching at his face in agony. Stumbling over the desk leg Rowan moved to the other side of the table and yelled, with all her might, "Petrificus Totalis!" Black's arms went rigid and he fell on his back to the floor, his onyx eyes shimmering lifelessly. Realizing now she was safe, Rowan strolled over to Black and twirled her wand in her fingertips above him, smirking.

"That's what you get when you try and tangle with Rowan Watkins." She said, tucking her wand back into her pocket with a satisfied little laugh and heading for the door. She paused, hand on the handle, and looked back at Sirius, lying alone on the stone floor.

"Don't look at me like that," She said, "I know it's cold. But the good thing is if it gets too bad, you can use that tent you've pitched. Good night."

And with a quick flick of her wand, all the torches were extinguished and she slipped out into the corridor.


	9. Chapter 9

"Did you hear?"

"Sirius Black, lying on the floor of the Charms room!"

"First floor! Petrified, by the looks of it."

"No, he won't say who did it to him! McGonagall found him this morning after he didn't come to breakfast."

It was the talk of the school the next morning, and Rowan couldn't help but give Lily a play by play of the night's events in Potions the following afternoon. Having finished their potion early (all thanks to Lily and her battered book) and taking advantage of the benefits Slughorn gave Lily for being a favorite student, the girls reclined in their hard backed chairs and laughed loudly together without worry as the students around them dropped in too many rat spleens or exploded their cauldrons. Poor Alice Thewlis was gouging out a burnt purple mess from her cauldron for the third time that hour, and it was only her story that kept Rowan from assisting her.

"But you can't tell a soul." Rowan whispered under the cover of a particularly nasty bang that came from Nathan McMillan's cauldron. "Not even Alice, she's not to know either." Lily's emerald eyes sparkled.

"Aw, you're no fun." She pouted playfully, crossing her arms. "What's the point of giving Black what he deserves if you get no credit for it?" But she, for once, fell silent at the look on Rowan's face.

"Aw, alright." She giggled, "I won't tell a soul. But go over the ending part again, it was just so funny!"

Funny wasn't exactly the term Black was using to describe the incident. He spent his Charms class sulking at a table not too far from the one he'd attempted to seduce Rowan behind the night before, surrounded by a throng of curious boys who kept pressuring him for details.

"Were ya out with a girl?" Frank Longbottom asked in a singsong voice, earning him a swat on the head from Sirius with his book.

"Are you mental, Longbottom?" James joked, packing away his quill at the end of the lesson, "What woman in their right mind would date this bloke? I mean, look at him." He wrinkled his nose in mock disgust. "Filthy lay about needs a new pair of robes…and all that hair!" He seized fistfuls of Black's curly black hair, letting it fall down into his expressionless eyes, "All that dratted, matted hair! Oh, I do declare, that the state of his haaaair-" But he never got to finish, because Black swatted him with his book as well.

He was in an ill mood the whole rest of the day, and by dinner time certainly still didn't feel like sharing. Rowan was secretly grateful he was too embarrassed to tell everyone. If it was revealed she was the one who took out Sirius Black, she'd have numerous fan girls and James Potter to answer to. Potter…his angered face bobbed around in Rowan's mind and she shuddered, not wanting to think about what would happen if he knew.

Fortunately for Rowan, the holiday season took everyone's minds off the whole horrible event. Not even a day later the news about Black had become old, replaced by excited chatter about the upcoming holiday break. Tucked away in their dorm late at night Lily asked Rowan and Alice if they'd accompany her home for Christmas.

"Mum and dad have let Tuney have friends over for the past two years." She explained, her excited voice hinting at annoyance. "They finally decided to let me bring you two again, but it took a lot of persuading since, of course, Tuney hates just about everything and anyone I bring home…" She rolled her eyes, putting on a high, girlish voice.

"And whatever I say, because I'm Petunia Evans, has to go because I'm jealous and can't do magic! Oh mother, pity me." And her arm fell over her eyes as she collapsed into Rowan's lap dramatically.

Dear Lily,

I know that I ask you this every single year, and you've got to tire of it after awhile. I'm hoping this is the year you finally put aside every negative thing you've ever heard about me and just say what I want you to when I ask you-Will you go out with me? There, it's done. You knew, in a letter from me of all people, that I'd ask you out at least once…how can you not, after I've only done it, what, going on 100 times? Well, if you don't want to this time I guess im going to give up on it. You probably cant wait for that, but maybe you've changed your mind. You've always been friendly to Rowan, who's a good friend of mine. Everyone likes her though. Especially Sirius…(if you catch my drift)Anyways, you can reject me/accept me/hex me however you want, though I'd quite prefer a letter.

-James

Lily got the letter at breakfast. As instructed, Rowan dropped it into her lap while breezing past her on her way to Jame's side of the Gryffindor table. Instead of sitting in her usual spot next to Lily, Rowan now occupied the seat next to James, the spot usually reserved for one Sirius Black. James hadn't let Rowan read the letter, but she could tell by his pallid face and nervous demeanor what it had said.

"Did you do it?" He asked, and Rowan noticed he was starting to look slightly green over his eggs. "Are you sure the letter fell where it was supposed to, and somebody else didn't get it?" He looked towards Lily's end of the table nervously, then stuck his fingers into his glass of water and began attempting to flatten his hair. Rowan grabbed his wrist with a meaningful look, and he stopped. "Okay, okay…" He said reluctantly, his eyes still on the glass of water, "But d'you have a mirror? Y'know…for if she rejects me again I can make sure I look extra charming?"

Rowan laughed as she pulled a little jar of strawberry jam towards herself and began to spread it liberally on her bagel. "Sure, there's a little one in my bag…might be a good idea to get that bogey out of your nose before she comes over here, though, or else it could definitely ruin the effect." James seized the bag and threw open the mirror in a panic, then glared at Rowan after surveying every inch of his nose for at least three minutes.

"You arse." He scowled, tossing it back into the bag. Rowan sniggered as Sirius slid into the seat across from her.

"What's the reaction, kids?" He chirped, craning his neck for a better view of the Lily Table. "Bitter fury, agonizing sorrow, or a lustful, passion filled agreement?" Beside him, Remus snorted into his pudding. Rowan stood up, her eyes fixed on Lily down the table. Her flaming hair fell in a curtain around her face, her head was bowed and her hands held something white beneath the table. Her friends were crowding around her, clutching each other and giggling, but she simply swatted them away with a flick of her wand when they got too close.

"No reaction appears to be visible mates." Rowan said, falling back into her seat and reaching for another bagel. "Object of desire currently has face hidden by a secretive curtain of hair." James moaned, putting his face in his hands. Rowan stuck her bagel in her mouth and rubbed his back consolingly.

"Chill James!" She said thickly through a mouthful of bread, "Worst she can do is say n-oh hello, Lily!" Rowan said pleasantly, shrinking a bit under her gaze. Did she always have the most inconvenient timing? Lily tossed her hair out of her eyes and held up the note between two fingers. Her eyes were fixed solely on James. Right now, nothing in the room mattered more than him, not even the moist blueberry muffin sitting on his plate, and muffins were Lily's weakness. She moved the note eye level with James.

"Did you write this note?" She demanded, waving it at his face. He gulped.


	10. Chapter 10

Across the table Sirius shot Rowan a look, which she returned. Things were going quite strangely indeed…usually by now Lily had yelled at him and stalked off. James, obviously expecting the worst from this civil conversation, put on the usual act.

"Yea, Evans…I did." He quipped, a smirk playing at the corners of his thin mouth. "Come to reject me in style, have you now?"

Instead of bristling like she normally would at James's attitude, Lily just smirked back. Sirius's eyes locked with Rowan's again and she quickly ducked under the table and crawled up into the seat next to him.

"Do you think…" She started, as James stood up.

"I think-" Sirius began. The two watched Lily to James like an intense Quidditch match, eyes darting anxiously from male to female. The Great Hall had gone almost completely still. The usual breakfast chatter had dimmed down to only a few jumbled conversations as rows of tables up and down the Great Hall began watching the drama unfold with bated breath. Lily looked towards the note, then at James, who gulped again. But instead of throwing the note at his face and stomping off like she'd done for the past six years, she instead leaned closer to James and smiled softly. Lily Evans did not smile at James Potter. Nor did she….kiss him?

"Argh!" Rowan cried, as Sirius dragged her with him as he fell backwards off the bench in shock. People up and down the tables, even some decent-hearted Slytherins, were clapping, and Sirius and Rowan looked at each other, nothing short of amazed. Black smiled at her and the two stood up, clapping louder than anyone. Sirius was soon wolf whistling, the noise sharp and clear in the wide hall, and after a few moments, Lily and James broke apart. Blushing furiously Lily muttered something about the library and ran off, forgetting her bag and wand. James looked like he'd been beaten by a Bludger for a moment, then looked up towards the long table where Dumbledore sat. Even now, everyone present swore Dumbledore gave a little nod of his head and winked. Taking this as a sign of approval, James's shocked face broke into the largest smile anyone had ever seen him wear, and he tore after Lily. Over at the Slytherin table, Snivellus stabbed his pancake bitterly.


	11. Chapter 11

"So what were you and Lils up to in the library?" The Mauraders and Rowan were out by the lake, watching the Giant Squid drift lazily under the thin sheet of ice. The sun was shining brightly, unusual for December, and it reflected the light, fluffy clouds that drifted pleasantly in the translucent sky in the ice. Sirius grabbed an apple from his bag and leaned leisurely against the trunk of the boy's beloved beech, eyeing James.

"Ya, Prongs-tell us all about it. It was a waste trying to get anything outta you yesterday." He took a giant bite out of his apple, spraying Remus with its juice. He sighed, wiping it away from his Muggle Studies book.

"Yea," Rowan giggled, "Thank god we didn't have a match." James laughed, tossing his head to the sky and studying the clouds.

"Well…hehe, I think you can figure it out." Remus looked up from his book, alarmed, and Sirius laughed.

"Oh god." Rowan said, shaking her head. James and Sirius were roaring with laughter, and so was Pettigrew. To her surprise, Rowan saw that Remus was smiling more than usual too. Men.

Sirius took another bite out of his apple, choking and laughing. "So what really happened mate?" James ruffled his hair.

"So you don't believe my little story?" He chortled. Everyone clustered around the tree shook their heads, then burst out laughing. James joined in, smiling like mad again.

"Actually nothing really…" He said casually, strolling to the water's edge and examining his reflection in the ice. He turned his head to the side and smoothed his hair down a bit, contrasting to the days when he'd look in the water to see how much he should ruff it up. "She basically just told me she thought she'd better say yes soon or she figured I'd get violent." Rowan unzipped her bag and pulled out her thick Potions book, flipping open to the page on Magical Remedies.

"Figured that might've happened sooner or later."

It was such a pleasant day. The cold, bitter Arctic winds that had plagued the castle just a few days before had died down, and now the air was actually a pleasant temperature. The weather was quite warm for a winter day, and nearly everyone was outside or playing games of Gobstones in hand knit sweaters. Sirius was lazily munching on his apple, relaxing while gazing up into the bright sky. Honestly, Rowan found herself surprised at having the impulse to snog him right there. The clouds were reflected in his onyx eyes and she couldn't help but lean in closer, not when his eyes looked so nice and his cologne had never smelled better.

"Why're you lookin' at me like that?" Sirius's quizzical voice snapped Rowan out of her daydream.

"What? You're delusional." She stuttered, quickly moving away and bringing her knees to her chest. Sirius set his apple on Remus's open book, which sat comfortably on his Indian style lap.

"Oh, don't you try to deny Sirius Black! That wasn't just a normal look." He said playfully, grinning from ear to ear. Rowan scowled, inching towards Remus and his book. Sirius followed.

"How would you know what my normal look looks like, Black? It's not like you spend your time studying me." Rowan saw him blush slightly, which surprised her, but it was gone so quickly Rowan half wondered whether she'd imagined it. He flipped over onto his back and stared up at her, smirking. "There's no way that was a normal look, Rowan." He flipped upright again, mimicking Remus's posture. "Here-I'll show you." And he rearranged his features into a dreamy, half smiling expression that was almost dead on to what Rowan's had been. It was a pitiful, wistful look…and he'd picked up on it. Now Rowan had gone about giving him the wrong impression….at least, what she believed to be the wrong impression.

"Don't make yourself into an arse, Sirius." She said, propping her book to hide her scarlet face. Sirius just laughed, crossing his arms under his head.

"Whatever you say, Watkins. I always knew you couldn't resist this charm." Remus gingerly picked up Sirius's half eaten apple and placed it on his knee. He was still absorbed in his book, his tawny eyes flicking fervently over the pages as he took in every word.

"Remus, what're you reading?" Rowan asked, peering over his shoulder. "It looks fascinating, but put it away, we never get to see that handsome face of yours anymore." This caught his attention. He looked at her and blushed, setting his book aside.

"I shouldn't be studying on a day like this.." He mumbled. Seeing Remus close his books was an inspiration to everyone else, and they all followed suit.

"Amen to that, Moony!" Sirius cried, giving his hair a brotherly tousle. He smiled, swatting his friend away to fix it nervously. James had now come out of his daze and patted Moony on the back.

"Now you're talkin' some sense, mate." He said. It was silent for a few moments, then there was a sudden outburst of loud, girlish giggling that certainly did not come from Rowan. At once, James leapt to his feet, stumbling on his cloak.

"Ah, Lily." He said with a wink. "I'll catch you later mates." And with that he puffed out his chest importantly and strolled over, taking Lily by the arm and leading her away from her chattering friends, who burst into giggles as the pair took their leave. Sirius turned to Rowan.

"How's your prank coming along?" He asked, finishing the last of his apple. Rowan smiled.

"Swimmingly. Yours?" Sirius's onyx eyes shimmered.

"Oh, perfectly." He said, winking. "Care to see sometime?" Rowan, remembering what had happened the last time she was left alone with Sirius, shook her curls.

"Nah…that's alright. And what would be the point in showing me? It's a competition!" Remus laughed.

"You've lost it Black." He said. Black attacked him with a snowball, and a full out war began. Rowan ran after Black, hurling snowballs Remus enchanted to her, smiling as Sirius did a series of wild leap to avoid her attacks. Giggling like mad she sunk into a snow bank beside Sirius, who had fallen in a dramatic fashion and now was pretending to be dead. Remus was over by the tree forming more snowballs, his graying hair a snowy mess as his hat had been knocked off by Sirius. Rowan turned to look at Sirius, only to find herself pulled on top of him in the deep snow.

"Say I'm your favorite or Remus goes." He joked, smiling up at her. Rowan laughed, brushing his hair out of his eyes.

"Oh, alright. I admit it-you're the best, Sirius." He smiled, and the two looked at each other for a moment. Rowan felt herself strongly compelled to kiss him again, and was leaning in when she found herself tumbling into the snow.

"What?" She cried, as Sirius stood over her, laughing.

"You said I'm your favorite, but Remus still is in for it!" He cried merrily, charging at Remus with a large snowball.

"Oh no you don't!" Remus cried, launching for Sirius at once. Using his wand to summon snow, Remus formed it into a neatly packed circle and launched it at Sirius. In a dramatic bid for safety Sirius dived beneath the prickly skirt of a nearby evergreen, but it was no use. The snowball hit him square in the chest, making large, white marks on his black robes, and he fell to his knees, grasping his chest.

"Oh…oh no." He whispered, "You've…got me." And he fell to his back, his head to the side and pink tongue hanging out. Remus laughed.

"KO'd!" He cried, dusting his hands on his robes. Rowan sank into the snow beside Sirius, taking his hand in hers.

"Oh, my poor, poor Sirius…" She moaned, dabbing at her eyes. "Taken away from me…so young! You will pay for this, Remus!" She yelled, charging at Remus with a fresh snowball. The fight continued, Rowan chasing him around the grounds, enjoying her last afternoon at Hogwarts before the holidays.


	12. Chapter 12

The station was always a mess on the first day of break, as everyone bustled around, anxious to make their way home for the holidays. The Hogwarts Express slid into the station, it's red smoke stacks spewing puffs of white smoke which curled around the students, setting everyone in a blurry haze. All around Rowan people were hugging goodbye, slipping colored parchment with their addresses or phone numbers into friend's cloaks and making sure they had all they needed for the journey home. Lily strolled down the middle of the aisle way, flanked on each side by Alice and Rowan, who were on the lookout for James Potter in the crowded station. A row of caged owls hooted shrilly as they passed, and a small grey cat streaked through people's legs, upsetting a first year carrying a large trunk and a man wheeling a cart of books. Dodging a particularly fierce biting book, Rowan felt someone tug the sleeve of her robes. Ready to fight some tall, masked stranger for her purse, Rowan whirled around, only to be standing inches away from Sirius Black.

"I've got something for you," he grinned. "Have a minute?" Rowan looked back towards Lily, who gave her an encouraging smile. Alice waved and the two made their way down the platform, turning to steal excited glances at the pair. Rowan rolled her eyes, smiling fondly at the pair of them. Girls.

"Yeah. Lead me where you will Black." She said coyly, taking the hand he offered her. They made their way through the slow moving mass of people, past teachers and students, owls and rats, to a secluded corner by the station entrance. Glancing over his shoulder, Sirius moved towards Rowan, and for a second Rowan thought he was going to kiss her until he pressed a small pink box into her hand.

"Merry Christmas." He said. Rowan looked down at the little box, done up in a large, lacy red ribbon, and smiled up at Sirius.

"Oh, a Christmas present?" She asked, smiling. Sirius scratched his head.

"Yeah, just a little…you know, something. Christmas only comes once every year, so…you know…" His eyes fell from her face and settled on the box.

"Sirius, are you getting bashful?" Rowan joked, carefully undoing the ribbon. Sirius let out his usual bark like laugh.

"Come on. Me? Bashful? I don't know the meaning of the word."

The ribbon came undone and Rowan lifted the top of the box slowly, peeking inside before gasping and opening it all the way once she saw what it contained.

"Oh!" She breathed, pulling a long necklace from the box and holding it up to the light. "It's beautiful!" She raised the necklace to eye level and began to examine the details. Sirius had really outdone himself, she thought. The necklace was white gold, shimmering in the sunlight streaming in from the rows of tall skylights overhead. Attached to the matching chain was a little white gold owl pendant, its wings a shiny gold with round, sparkling diamond eyes. Rowan lifted her hair off her neck and allowed Sirius to hook the necklace around it, his fingers brushing delicately across her skin as he fastened it.

"Sirius…" She sighed, examining the necklace sparkling against her robes, "It's amazing! How could I ever thank you for this?" Sirius took her hands in his, his onyx eyes boring deep into Rowan's blue. She looked away, embarrassed at their intensity, but he cupped her chin in her hands and lifted her face to his.

"I only ask that you'll be mine." He said, still not taking his eyes off her. Rowan looked away again, blushing. She hadn't expected him to say it outright, but then again, it was Sirius Black... Sirius's grip tightened and Rowan looked at him again. His soft eyes fell to her owl pendant, then flashed back to meet hers.

"I really like you, Rowan." He whispered, tucking a stray curl behind her ear. Rowan smiled.

"I know." And she stood on tiptoe and pressed her lips to his, wrapping her arms around his neck as she deepened the kiss. A few passer-bys wolf whistled, but neither Rowan nor Sirius paid them any mind. Sirius had one hand tangled in Rowan's curls and the other wrapped around her waist. 'So this is what it is like to kiss Sirius Black willingly...' Rowan thought. She sighed happily, tightening her grip around Sirius. They'd have to come up for air soon-how long could they keep going? Rowan was surprised at her mind's answer- for however long we want. Too soon the train whistle blew shrilly and Rowan broke away from him.

"I'll see you after the holidays." She said, dashing off towards the train. Sirius laughed, watching her go.

"Yea, like I'm really going to be able to just wait to see you after that."


	13. Chapter 13

The Evans household sat comfortably on a hill a little ways outside Surrey, not too far from where, years later, Petunia Dursley and her family would reside. The little thatched cottage was covered in ivy, green and snakelike in the way it curled around first story doors and windows. The bushes by the front step were misshapen and largely unkempt, since Mrs. Evans had long given up gardening in favor of knitting caps and various sweaters for the nearby orphanage.

"My mom's a saint." Lily explained on their way there. "She never does anything for herself, just others." Rowan nodded, yawning and flipping a page in Witch Weekly.

"Like that time she saved those nine blind orphans from a house fire." Lily laughed.

"Yes, perfect example."

The three now were walking up the winding cobblestone path to the little cottage, sliding a little on the icy stone as they raced to the door, where a stout, redheaded woman, the sweet smell of freshly baked bread and a warm fireplace awaited them. Lily got there first, seeing as it was her house, and pushed the front door open with such force the merry Christmas wreath swayed and tipped before falling to the entry, where it was trampled by Rowan.

"Mum, we're here!" Lily cried, setting her things down in the foyer and wandering off in search of her family. Rowan stepped in behind her and smiled, sheepishly placing the battered holly wreath around the coat hanger. The familiar scent of baking bread wafted through the house and wrapped around her nostrils, and as Rowan inhaled deeply she thought she caught a trace of cinnamon mingling along with the fresh bread smell.

"Oh, it's good to be home." She said happily, setting her bag next to Lily's. Alice's reaction was a bit less subtle.

"Sweet Merlin, look at this place!" She cried, spinning around in awe, trying to capture all the sights, sounds, smells at once. "It's like those little houses on Christmas cards! Bloody hell-" She said, sniffing the air just as Rowan had done, "It even smells like I thought those houses would!" And she clapped her hands delightedly, setting off down the hall after Lily. Rowan smiled, her fingers finding the owl pendant around her neck. She gave it a quick kiss before following Alice into the kitchen, where Mrs. Evans was already baking.

"Dearies!" She cried, dusting her flour soaked hands on her apron and leaving two, bright white prints on the red fabric. She held out her arms and the girls sank into them, catching the soft, musky scent of her perfume alongside the other delicious smells of the kitchen. "So glad you all made it safely…Help yourselves, I've just baked two cherry pies." Rowan's eyes widened as she looked at Alice, whose brown eyes shone with excitement.

"There is a god." Rowan said, looking skyward. Mrs. Evans laughed.

"Well, I'd hope so. I also made some gingerbread; I know how well you like it Lils." Lily smiled at her mother, giving her an extra hug.

"How've you been?" She asked. Mrs. Evans shrugged, her eyes, the same color as her daughter's, sparkling merrily.

"Alright…I've missed you. And oh! You cut your hair. Let me see, did one of your girls at school do this? Very nice." Lily smiled, tossing it over her shoulder.

"Yea, Tabitha. I like it this length, it was too hard to manage when it was at my waist." Lily's mother nodded.

"That it was. Halfway suits you dear." She smiled, the lines around her almond eyes crinkling. Popping a cookie into her mouth Rowan thought she'd quite like to look like Mama Evans when she was older. The wrinkles around her eyes and mouth only made her soft features more beautiful, gentler, and with her vivid hair and eyes, Rowan could see where Lily got her looks from.

"Where's Tuney?" Lily asked, her eyes scanning the kitchen. Mrs. Evans began rolling out dough on the kitchen counter with a fat, pink rolling pin.

"Out." She said simply, turning the pin over to roll the dough again. "Some friends picked her up this morning." Lily's eyes lost some of their brightness.

"Oh…did she know I was coming, by any chance?" Mrs. Evans stopped rolling.

"Well…"

"Don't lie."

Mrs. Evans sighed heavily, giving her daughter a meaningful look. "Yes. I told her yesterday morning." Lily's fists clenched, and Rowan could tell she was trying hard to control her temper.

"And what did she say?" She asked, moving towards the counter. Mrs. Evans picked up the pink pin and began to roll again, pounding on the dough rather more than necessary.

"She said she didn't want to see you quite yet, if you want the honest truth." She said, her plump lips moving into a firm, thin line. Lily's expression softened.

"Oh…" She said sadly. "Oh…" Alice moved from the barstool, where she sat next to Rowan stuffing her face with gingerbread, and wrapped one arm around Lily.

"Don't worry about her, Lils." She said consolingly, rubbing her shoulder. "We're going to have a great Christmas." At this Lily brightened a little, and led them all in a merry rendition of Christmas carols, but fell back into her depressed mood when she saw Petunia slip into the kitchen before disappearing to her room, her nose held high in the air.

"Uh-oh." Alice said, nudging Rowan in the ribs.

That night at dinner was, for lack of a better word, uncomfortable. Petunia ate rapidly and, after only one extra helping of her favorite cinnamon applesauce, announced that it had been a long day, that she was very, very tired, and asked to be excused. But Mr. Evans, being the sharp man he was, saw right through this.

"Now you stop this complaining and finish your dinner!" He said, gesturing at her with his fork. "Your sister's come home for the holidays; you should enjoy it and be civil." His thick blonde moustache quivered as he stared at Petunia, who crossed her arms and spent the rest of the dinner in a huffy silence, glaring around the table at them all. From across the table, Lily gave Rowan a meaningful look.

The dessert that night was cherry pie, freshly baked by Mama Evans, and when she set it down on the table, richly decorated with strips of flaky pastry, everyone found themselves drooling involuntarily.

"It looks lovely, Mama Evans." Rowan said, as Lily's mother put a large, steaming piece onto her dessert plate. Mrs. Evans smiled as Alice handed her her plate.

"Well, I do try…there you go, sweetie…Tuney dear, could you hand that plate to your sister?" And that was how Mrs. Evans unknowingly began to ruin Lily's first night at home.

"I'd love to, mum." Petunia said sweetly, a small smile curving the corners of her lips. Mrs. Evans passed the plate to Petunia. Rowan watched the pie being exchanged with round eyes. She almost wanted to jump across the table, scream "Don't do it Lily!" but just as she was about to spring, the damage was done.

"Here you gooo-oh!" Petunia cried, dropping the pie into Lily's lap, and her white skirt.

"Tuney!" Lily cried, jumping out of her chair and stumbling backwards. Petunia smiled mischievously before gasping dramatically and seizing a napkin from the wicker basket on the table.

"Oh my gosh, here, let me help you-oh, I'm so sorry Lils." She said, though she was grinning. Mr. Evans had had enough. His mustache was quivering more than ever.

"Petunia Daphne Evans, you get upstairs right now!" He bellowed, standing up in his seat. Mrs. Evan's emerald eyes looked up at him.

"Paul, dear, it was just an accident…really, Tuney didn't mean-"

"Tuney knew exactly what she meant to do!" Mr. Evans cut across her. "And for that malicious act, she needs to get herself upstairs." When Petunia did nothing but stare at him, he closed his eyes, pointed towards the stairs, and yelled "MARCH!"

Petunia wasted no time. With one last glare at Lily, who was still sopping pie off herself, she hightailed it up the stairs, slamming her door shut with a deafening bang. Mrs. Evans sighed, then took Rowan's plate.

"More pie?"

Lily sighed.


	14. Chapter 14

"I can't believe she did that to you." Alice said. She was sitting at Lily's desk, siphoning the cherry stains off Lily's skirt with her wand and moving them into the trashcan. Lily had stormed into her room after dinner and curled up into a ball on her bed. She was still in it now, a few hours later, and only stirred when Alice spoke. Keeping her legs wrapped tightly to her chin, she looked over her shoulder at Alice.

"Then you obviously don't know Tuney very well." She huffed, turning back to her knees again. At the head of Lily's bed, Rowan was stroking her soft hair, letting it flow through her fingers like silk.

"Don't let the Muggle get you down." She whispered, tucking Lily's thick hair behind her ears. Lily moved her hand aside gently, and untangled her legs from their crossed position to sit on the bed like Rowan.

"Yea, but that Muggle's my sister." She said sadly. Rowan sighed.

"Well, yes…but on the plus side, your dad did a pretty good job of taking care of her." Lily smiled weakly, then seized Rowan around the waist and squeezed her so tight her ribs cracked.

"Oh, I love you Rowan!" She cried, burying her face in Rowan's sweater. Over Lily's head Alice's eyes met Rowan's and she shrugged. "You're the best friend ever!" Lily sobbed, her voice muffled by the scratchy fleece. Alice dropped her wand.

"Hey! I'm here too!" She cried indignantly. Lily raised her face from Rowan's chest, tears sparkling in the dim lamplight as their made their way down her cheeks. "Sorry." She chocked, wiping her eyes on her sleeve. Alice moved to the bed and wrapped her arms around Lily.

"That's okay. You've had a rough night. Just so you know, we love you…even if Tuney always doesn't." Lily gave a watery laugh and blew her nose unsteadily on the tissue Rowan handed her.

"Thanks." She said, smiling. "That means a lot."

Alice stretched, yawning, and wiggled her toes. "So, speaking of love," She said, leaning back on her elbows, "Whats this with you and Sirius?" Rowan blushed.

"Yea, what's up with you two?" Lily asked, moving closer to Rowan. The unfortunate incident at dinner might never have happened.

"We…I don't know." Rowan said honestly, retrieving the owl pendant from the inside of her sweater. "But he gave me this…" Lily nearly ripped it off her neck as she seized it for examination with Alice.

"Bloody hell…" Alice breathed, fingering the owl's tiny wings. "How much did he get this for? We could pawn it and eat for a year!" Lily took a corner of the owl and bit into it.

"Ah! Yep, it's solid…real deal." She said, handing it back to Rowan. "What did you do to that boy?" Alice sighed dreamily.

"I wish Frank would spend that much on me!" She whined, eyeing the necklace enviously.

"Yea, well…hands off." She said, smiling down at the owl, whose lamp like eyes were sparkling.

"What did you do when he gave it to you?" Lily asked.

"Snogged him." Lily and Alice's mouths fell open in identical, comical O's.

"You WHAT?" They said in unison. Rowan giggled.

"He told me he really liked me and…well, I kissed him." Lily whistled under her breath.

"Daaah-AM!" She said, causing the girls to fall into a fit of giggles. Once they had come back to normal, Alice hiccupping, Lily looked meaningfully at Rowan.

"You must be a great kisser-when we saw Black board the train, he looked like he didn't know what hit him."

"I'm going to have to try something like that on Frank!" Alice mused. "You have Sirius hooked, Ro- he's going to do anything for you now." From the hallway came the soft shuffling of feet and a small click; Lily's parents had gone to bed.

"Ah..." Rowan said, running her hand through her long curls, "Good friends, good food, and even better snogging...it must be the holidays."


	15. Chapter 15

The next few days passed smoothly enough with not a peep from Tuney, who had been out with friends or skillfully avoiding her sister and every one of her "nasty, witchy friends", as they had heard themselves being described. Rowan had encountered her in the laundry room the night following the cherry pie incident and had attempted to strike up a conversation, but she could have been talking to a brick wall for all the response Petunia gave.

"How's school going?"

"Fine."

"Your mom makes delicious pies."

"I know."

"The snow's really falling…reckon we'll be snowed in?"

At this Petunia's eyes widened, as if the thought was nothing short of torture.

"Goodness, no." She said brightly, folding her clothes and taking them away up the stairs.

"Goodness no." Rowan said later that night, imitating Petunia in a high pitched voice. "I couldn't BEAR the thought! Blah blah, blah blah blah." From the counter Lily chuckled, wrapping her hands around a large mug of tea from which a badly painted Santa smiled merrily from the ceramic.

"I won't be sorry to leave her when the time comes." She said, taking a sip of her tea, "That's for sure." Alice scooped the daily paper from Mr. Evan's easy chair and slid into a seat at the kitchen table, spreading it out in front of her and marveling at the stationary pictures.

"Look at that!" She cried, waving the pictures under Rowan's nose. "No movement at all! Those beady little eyes…everyone looks so miserable! Goodness…who is that man? He's hideous. That hat does nothing for him." Lily snorted into her tea.

"That man," She said, taking the paper away from Alice and folding it, "Is the Muggle Prime Minister."

"Oh." Alice said. Her eyes fell to the paper once more and she shrieked, pointing frantically to a small heading in bold. "A winter carnival! Oh-look,look at this-" She pushed the paper around so that everyone could see, and read aloud-

"The National Park-Goers Committee invites you to attend the third annual winter carnival, held in Hammolds Park! Live music, steaming mugs of hot cocoa, beautiful lights, ice skating until 10 pm and sleigh rides!" Alice was nearly beside herself. "Ooooh, Lily, lets go! A Muggle festival! It'll be fascinating! Let's go, let's go, lets goooooo!" Lily picked up the paper and scanned it.

"Hmm…couldn't be too bad. Those tree huggers usually know how to throw a pretty decent bash….but I'll handle the money this time." She said, glaring around at Rowan, who smiled apologetically. Last time they'd been to Lily's for the holidays, Mrs. Evans had taken them to a lady's shop downtown. Rowan had attempted to use knuts and Galleons to pay for everything and insisted that the cashier was crazy when she demanded a 20 pound note. Frustrated, the girl called security and Rowan was asked to leave the store. Mrs. Evans still wasn't allowed there.

"Alright, if you handle the money, can we go?" Alice begged, tugging at Lily's sweater. Lily laughed.

"Ah, I can't say no to you. Get your coats, I'll go ask me mum." She scurried up the stairs and Alice took Rowan by the hands.

"A carnival, a carnival, a carnival!" She cried, jumping up and down excitedly. Rowan joined in.

"A carnival, a carnival, a carnival!" They chanted, bouncing up and down like madmen. Lily and Mrs. Evans stopped at the top of the stairs; Lily cleared her throat loudly.

"Can we go?" Alice asked, not even noticing Lily's glare. Mrs. Evans chuckled softly.

"Of course. You're so excited, and it'd be good for you girls to get out for awhile."

"Yay!" She cried, smiling at Rowan. "Oh, this will be wonderful!" Rowan tugged her beret over her ears.

"Yea, wonderful." She giggled. Lily hurried down the steps and wrapped herself in her long coat, doing up every last button to her chin.

"What?" She said, as Rowan and Alice burst into a fit of giggles at the sight of her. "It's cold!"

A half hour later, Lily was giving the freckle faced kid at the kiosk money for three and then they were in, Rowan and Alice marveling at how Muggles used plugs and electricity for Christmas time.

"All those wires! What would happen if you just," Rowan made a snapping motion with her hands, "Broke them apart?" Lily blinked.

"You don't go near them." She said, but she was trying hard to contain her smile and burst into a fit of giggles.

Lily bought them all a hot chocolate, which turned out to be lukewarm and not half as enjoyable as Honeyduke's, before the three squished together in a majestic white sleigh, eager to be pulled through the snow by two large Clydesdale horses. The driver, a friendly looking old man, smiled at Lily as she entered the carriage, pausing to give short little Alice a leg up to reach the sleigh, which must have been at least a foot off the ground. When they had been seated, tucking the matching white blanket tightly across themselves, the man whipped the horses and they were off, trotting merrily along a wooded path.

"Snow!" Alice cried, tearing her hat from her head and sticking her tongue to the sky. Lily and Rowan followed suit, making it a contest to see which one of them could catch the most snowflakes. They even encouraged the driver to join in, and he spent the remainder of the ride with his tongue sticking straight out, since he couldn't tilt his head to the sky. He ended up winning. After the ride they all were frozen solid despite the warm blanket, and agreed to call it an early night. They all clamored into the cottage, stomping their boots on the large door rug, and were greeted by Mrs. Evans, who was holding out a thick letter to Rowan.

"An owl came when you were away." She said, as Lily and Alice removed their scarves. Lily shot Rowan a look and she opened the letter, smoothing the crisp white parchment and taking it to the light. She smiled upon recognizing the long, jagged scrawl that skated across the page.

Dear Rowan,

How are you? Muggles treating you well? The thought of stepping into Evan's house gives me the chills. Even though I'm not living with her anymore, my mum would have a fit. My dad too, come to think of it. He does everything she says. The gang's all here at the Potter estate-you should stop by the last days of break. James' mum would probably bake you some type of cake or the other; she did when we arrived and has made about four since. If you and Lils came I bet she'd make her special chocolate cake, and it is heavenly…..but I don't want you to visit just because if you did, I'd get a cake. (Though I've got to admit, its part of the reason. Just joking) I miss you. We didn't even get to say goodbye…well, we did, but it wasn't long enough. Stupid trains. Hope you still love the necklace…write back to me soon. Lil's owl can find me.

Merry Christmas!

Sirius

Alice had been reading over her shoulder.

"Ooooh, Rowan!" She cried, swatting her playfully. "He's hooked!" Lily, who had been fixing her hair in the hallway mirror, moved over curiously to see what all the fuss was about. Rowan handed her the letter.

"He is sweet." She said, smiling. Lily handed the parchment back to Rowan.

"You're lucky. James hasn't written me once." She dusted a bit of snow from Rowan's shoulder. Rowan folded the note carefully and stuck it in her pocket.

"He will…what do you think about spending the last few days at the Potter's?" She asked hopefully. Lily laughed.

"Easy now, Ro. I really like James, he's my boyfriend now, but I still think spending two whole days with him would be a little too much Potter." Alice raised a brow.

"What's going to happen if you marry him, eh?" She asked, taking a candy cane from the Evan's tree and unwrapping it.

"Oh god, Alice." Lily said, smiling. "He's just a school boyfriend, who knows what will happen. You're such a romantic..it's not like because we're going out now I'll be with James forever and have a son named Harry. Tons of things could happen between now and then. We might grow apart, he might cheat, I might die in a freak Quidditch accident…you never know." Alice laughed, nearly choking on her candy cane.

"Ah, well…what kind of name is Harry anyway?" She teased.

"A nice one." Lily answered simply. Alice chuckled.

"I want you all in bed early tonight!" Mrs. Evan's voice called from the stairway. "Your father's all excited, he wants to open Christmas presents early." Lily looked at Rowan and Alice.

"I nearly forgot!" She cried. "It's Christmas tomorrow, isn't it?" Alice stared at her.

"Duh! What's with you, Lils?"

"I must be losing my mind."

"Obviously."

But Lily was suddenly in a panic.

"I haven't gotten James a thing!" She cried, seizing fistfuls of her bright hair. "What's he going to think of a girlfriend that hasn't gotten him a thing for the holidays?"

"Lily," Rowan said soothingly, unclenching Lily's fists, "I think agreeing to finally date him is present enough." Lily shook her head, snatching her coat from the hanger by the door and pulling it over her shoulders. She tucked her beret lopsidedly on her head, glanced quickly at the clock, then slipped out the door.

"Leave it open for me." She whispered, then disappeared into the cold night.

"Do you think we should go with her?" Alice asked, leaning against the doorframe with another candy cane. Rowan crossed her arms, smiling.

"Naw…that Lily is something else."


	16. Chapter 16

The next morning was Christmas day, and, at three in the morning, Mr. Evans tried stomping through the house and knocking on doors to rouse everyone for presents, but after Petunia threw her alarm clock at the door, yelling "Can't you read the numbers, you dolt?!" He retreated back to his room, where he woke again at six.

"Come on! I've waited three hours, up you get!" He cried in his deep, booming voice. "Presents! Tea! More presents!" Lily rolled over in bed, shielding her eyes from the light pouring into the room from the hallway.

"Is it that time already?" She yawned, rolling upright and sinking her feet into her wooly slippers. Rowan cracked her back, tugging at the long braid down her back to let her curls free.

"Seems so…you're dad's not excited, is he?" Lily rolled her eyes.

"Alice?"

Alice didn't stir. Her mouth was hanging open and a thick stream of drool was sliding down her chin. She lie spread eagle in her bed, the covers tangled around her toes, and her eye twitched as she slurped and mumbled something about cactus. Rowan raised a brow.

"Get the horn." She said. Lily, who had been heading towards the door, whipped around so fast her hair smacked her in the face,

"What?" She asked, spitting it out of her mouth. Rowan held out her hand.

"You heard me. Horn-the pink one. Your bed table." Lily looked at Rowan as if bubotubers had suddenly sprung from her forehead, but she scooped it up from the table and placed it in Rowan's palm.

"Why do you even have this anyway?" Rowan asked, fingering the rubber nozzle. Lily laughed unpleasantly.

"A gift from Tuney. She hated how I slept for hours when we were younger. Cut out from our play time."

"I see…and it hasn't ever been used?" Lily nodded.

"Never…and please tell me you're not going to do what I think you're going to do."

Rowan batted her eyelashes innocently at Lily. "Use it on Alice? Why I-"And she pressed the nozzle. A loud, earsplitting shriek radiated throughout the house, causing Alice to bolt out of bed with a startled snort and fall to the floor. Mr. Evans's voice floated up the stairs, "What the Sam hill _was_ that?" Alice was clutching her heart.

"Good lord, Rowan!" She cried, leaning her head on the end of her bed, panting slightly. "Good lord." Rowan smirked and set the horn safely back on Lily's bed table.

"Mr. Evans wouldn't have wanted you to miss Christmas." For a moment Alice looked as if she would quite like to hit Rowan, then threw her head back and laughed like a maniac.

The morning was an incredibly pleasant one. Mama Evans had baked a fresh batch of homemade cinnamon rolls, even going so far as to ladle extra sweet icing onto each one in snowman form with the help of Alice's wand.

"Cherry and unicorn hair," she said, twirling it between her fingers. "Can't go wrong."

The Christmas tree, drooping under the weight of five different strings of lights and heavy, homemade ornaments, stood majestically in the center of the parlor, presents of every shape and color glimmering underneath. Mama Evans went first in the gift-getting, beaming as she tore open a small box from Lily to find a case of Honeyduke's finest dark chocolate.

"It's lovely!" She cried, sliding it out of it's reflective gold package and breaking it into bite sized pieces for everyone to enjoy.

"Saint." Lily mumbled, licking her fingers.

Mr. Evans was giddy as a school girl. He bounced up and down in his easy chair by the fire and cried out with delight whenever Lily brought a present over to him. He was incredibly pleased with his wife's gift of a new pair of leather gloves, wowed by Lily's Chocolate Frogs (though was considerably less excited after having one hop about in his stomach) and blown away by Petunia's screwdriver set.

"I wrapped it myself," she pointed out, gesturing towards the beautifully cut yellow paper and giant green bow. Her eyes narrowed as she looked towards Lily, who raised her hands in defense. Rowan and Alice each got a small, miniature cake decorated in red and green and Rowan, recalling Sirius's letter tucked under her mattress upstairs, smiled fondly at it. From Lily they both received a new pair of pink, woolen mittens, which Alice was very excited about.

"Lils, these are the _best_!" She cried, shoving them on her hands and wiggling her fingers. "They're warm…" She ran her hand over her face, her eyes growing wide. "And soft!" And she attacked Lily in a bear hug.

At the end of gift giving, Mama Evans brought out another steaming tray of rolls and Petunia reluctantly handed Lily a slightly misshapen package, wrapped rather less carefully than her father's in the same bright yellow paper.

"Just a little something," she said. Lily smiled, handing her sister a small pink package from under the tree. Unlike Petunia's, it was painstakingly wrapped and taped. Rowan had helped her wrap it, spending an hour doing so even with the aid of Alice's wand.

"Thanks," Petunia said stiffly, beginning to unwrap it. Lily tore the paper off hers too, and excitedly pulled out her gift. When she saw it her face fell slightly, though Rowan wondered if she was the only one who saw it, since a moment later she was beaming.

"Oh, it's wonderful, Tuney!" She cried, holding a hideous, bulky green sweater to her chest. Petunia, who had been examining a small box of Coconut Ice as though afraid of contamination, smiled weakly.

"Really? My friend Cara's grandmother loves to knit, so I thought…green, you know…and how much you love sweaters." She turned the package over in her hands, letting the Ice shake around the sides. Rowan licked her lips. "And…thanks for this." She said, holding up the little pack. Lily folded her sweater neatly in her lap and reached for another cinnamon roll.

"I thought you'd enjoy them."

If breakfast had been uncommonly pleasant, Christmas dinner was scrumptious, as Mama Evans had decided to pull out all the stops for her guests. The table was stuffed with all sorts of delectable offerings, bowls and goblets overflowing with their delicious contents. There was a golden honey ham, leafy green salad, a plate of stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce and a bowl of candied yams. Across from Rowan sat buttery, flaky rolls that went to pieces on the tongue, bright green beans and a heaping bowl of Petunia's favorite cinnamon applesauce. Mama Evans, carrying yet another bowl of yams, scurried into the dining room and sank into her chair, puffing her napkin out like a little parachute before folding it daintily in her lap.

"Ah, a happy house and soon even happier stomachs!" She chirped, taking Lily's plate and beginning to ladle cranberry sauce onto it. Mr. Evans lit two high candlesticks, decorated with miniature wreaths of holly, with a small box of matches, and Rowan and Alice marveled over the way the flame ignited when the match was stroked against its box. Mr. Evans found their amazement so humorous that he lighted and blew out seven matches before his wife gave him a look from across the table, and he sat back down to his dinner.

After dinner, everyone was feeling very full and sleepy, and Alice fiddled with the radio, trying to tune it to the WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network) while everyone else lounged, stuffed, in various chairs. Failing to tune into the WWN frequency, Alice had instead settled on a station which played a collection of holiday jazz medleys—a collection which made everyone, fit to burst with Christmas cooking, even sleepier. Rowan was nodding off in her armchair when suddenly, from the middle of the room, came a loud popping noise, and suddenly James Potter was standing in the Evan's parlor, grinning ear to ear in a red and green knit sweater. Petunia, mistaking the pop for gunfire, yelped and hit the floor. Lily swallowed her toothpick.

"James!" She cried, "You came!"

Mr. Evans, who looked a bit shaken, leaned against the door frame, shaking his blonde head.

"Funny people, wizards." He chortled, moving back to the living room to greet James. Petunia was glaring at everyone in a corner, and Rowan could tell she was having a hard time biting her tongue.

"I didn't have time to get you a present…" James said bashfully, smiling down at Lily, "So I was going to wrap myself and come to your place, but that seemed incredibly corny, so I just did this instead." Lily laughed, tossing her long hair.

"This is much better." She said softly. James beamed.

"So this is the famed James Potter." It was Mrs. Evans, and she was hurrying towards him, carrying a massive stack of holiday cookies. James, always the charmer, puffed out his chest, strolled over to her, and shook her hand.

"That I am. Nice to meet you, Mrs. Evans," he said smoothly.

Mama Evans smiled."Same to you, Mr. Potter!"

Mr. Evans hurried into the kitchen, squeezing through the door and taking the tea pot off the stove.

"Tea?" He offered, pulling two mugs from the cupboard shelves. James nodded enthusiastically.

"Please."

After James had drained his mug and Mr. Evans had fallen asleep in his easy chair with the daily post over his face, Lily dragged him out of his recliner and into the hall.

"We're going out," she said, throwing her scarf around her neck. Rowan, who had been happily daydreaming about Sirius after James's updates, looked towards the door.

"And leaving us behind?"

Lily paused for a moment, then shrugged. "Sorry," she said.

James offered her his arm and the two set off into the cool night air. Alice took a cookie from the tray Mrs. Evans was now passing around and leaned back on the sofa, sighing happily.

"Ah…young love."


	17. Chapter 17

The next morning Mama Evans came tiptoeing into the girl's bedroom, her plump figure illuminated from a small candle as she roused the girls from their slumber.

"'S morning already?" Lily grumbled, kicking her covers off her legs. Mama Evans smiled, setting the candle on Lily's bedside table and stroking her hair fondly.

"I'm afraid so. Holidays are never long enough Lils."

Their going-away breakfast was almost more lavish that Christmas dinner. If Rowan had thought Mama Evans pulled out all the stops for Christmas, it was apparent there were many, many more hidden away. The girls entered the dining room to find two long tables pushed together and covered with a pink tablecloth, stretching all the way to the opposite side of the room with delicious smelling food. Rowan's eyes widened as she surveyed the contents of the table. A heaping pile of toast, trays of poached, scrambled and fried eggs, a generous portion of blueberry pancakes, a morning pastry, a floral tray of powdered donuts, and several more things besides.

"I thought we'd have an early breakfast." Mama Evans said cheerfully, toting a steaming pot of coffee to the table. Lily laughed.

"Yeah, so we'll have time to eat it all," she said, tucking into the table and surveying the spread. Meanwhile, Rowan had already placed her napkin into her lap and had her fork at the ready.

"Mama Evans," she said, eying the pancake Lily's mother had just placed on her plate, "If we eat all of this, I think we'll explode!"

"Nonsense," Mama Evans said. "Growing girls need a hearty breakfast." And she tossed another pancake onto Rowan's already full plate.

After the girls had eaten their way through half the food (which, not surprisingly, took very little time with Rowan at the table) it was time to prepare for Hogwarts. It really was lucky that Lily's mother had decided to spoil them with such a big breakfast so early, since packing was a disaster. Rowan spent ten whole minutes scouring Lily's room for her left Gryffindor colored knee high, and Lily threatened to have them all miss the train when she insisted her lipstick be flawless. Rowan had pulled her out of the bathroom and down the stairs by her hair.

Mr. Evans would be driving them to the Station, but he wasn't too happy about it. His mustache quivered as he tucked his head into a large, wooly hat and slid massive fox fur mittens onto his thick hands, and he kept mumbling about the weather. Petunia even made a small appearance, appearing near the doorway in her pajamas to give Lily a surprisingly civil goodbye and even a quick, one armed hug before dashing up the stairs again in her curlers. At long last the cuckoo clock in the hall chimed nine o'clock, and, with much tears and hugging (and the pressing of muffins into hands by Mama Evans) they all climbed into Mr. Evan's Impala and were off. Alice was fussing over the pink carnation shaped earrings Frank had sent her for Christmas, flashing her earlobes at Lily and Rowan and asking for opinions.

"I mean, they're pretty, but a little big…I think they're plastic, nothing like Sirius gave you Rowan." She complained, craning her neck to examine them in the rear view mirror. Mr. Evan's grey eyes flashed to the back seat.

"Alice, you block my view one more time and you're walking to the Station…or flying, whatever you wizards like to do." Alice laughed, thinking he was kidding, but quickly realized not to mess with Mr. Evans in a mood when he stopped on the side of a highway and told Lily to push her out. Just like Lily, when Mr. Evans wasn't feeling too great, he was best left alone.

The rest of the ride passed smoothly enough, with beautiful green meadows and rivers turning the long drive into a scenic tour. Mr. Evans became considerably better natured when the radio station began to play his favorite tunes, but soon hurt all their ears by attempting to sing along. After several minutes of this, they were all very relieved when they finally reached the station.

"Here's your stop, girls," Mr. Evans said, swinging around back to unlock their things from the trunk. Lily and Alice busied themselves with removing bags and books from the backseat, which left Rowan to take care of the owls, who had been twittering like mad in the back seat. She was quite surprised Mr. Evan's hadn't threatened to toss them out along with Alice back on the interstate, as the way they were going, the little car and three oddly dressed girls were attracting quite a lot of attention. After everyone had taken their things and Mr. Evans did one last check to make sure no one's wand had rolled under the seats, he hugged Lily goodbye and kissed her on the cheek, shaking hands with Alice and Rowan.

"You girls come back soon, alright?" He said, giving Rowan's hand a squeeze. "You're good ladies, and wonderful friends for Lily."

Alice beamed. "We'll be back as soon as we can, Mr. Evans!" She chirped.

"With the holidays over, it's only a few more months until schools out again," Rowan said. Mr. Evans nodded, looking slightly alarmed as Rowan's owl suddenly began to hurl itself against the bars of its cage, screeching madly. Alice's long fingers stroked her wand.

"Do you want me to take care of that bird for you?" She said menacingly, eyeing Ellery in her cage. Rowan wrapped her arms around the owl, shielding it from harm, and Lily chortled.

"Please, Rowan, it'd do us all a favor." And with one last kiss for her father she took her trunk, dragging it behind her on its wheels, gesturing to Alice and Rowan to do the same. With a friendly wave to Mr. Evans, they set off towards the station.


	18. Chapter 18

King's Cross was a lively place, always full of action, but even more so when it was time to start a new term at Hogwarts. Students called to each other over the shrill whistles of trains, owls hooted softly in their cages and trunks occasionally opened, spilling ink wells and old potions bottles and attracting the attention of passing Muggles. Rowan couldn't help but wonder how they hadn't managed to give themselves away by now, when every year funny looking people walked into a jam packed station with large trunks, pointed hats and caged owls or rats. She also loved how no one tried to hide the fact they were from Hogwarts. The school crest glinted on several chests; one girl had even taken out her new broomstick for a friend to ogle over in a corner.

"So much for the Statute of Secrecy." Lily mumbled under her breath as a boy in front of them spilled a whole jar of frog spawn over the pavement.

"They probably just think we're all part of some freak convention or something," Rowan said, dodging a crate of owls.

The hardest part of going to Hogwarts was entering the station. One had to blend into the wall between nine and ten, but do it quickly and sneakily as possible, so no one noticed their disappearance into thin air. A group of anxious looking girls stood by the wall as Rowan and the others approached, blocking their friends from view as they slipped through the entrance. After waiting their turn, Lily and Alice stood in front of Rowan and she ran in, heading towards the wall full speed.

Several minutes later Lily appeared, closely followed by Alice. Both of them looked rather frazzled, and Lily's cheeks were flushed.

"Where were you?" Rowan cried. "I thought the portal was going to close!"

"It nearly did," said Lily darkly. "The security guard thought we were loitering…suspicious looking, he said. If it wasn't for these stupid owls…"

Alice tucked her hair behind her ears.

"Yea, some little guy was getting too close to the tracks, so when he turned to try and distract him we slipped through." She shook her head. "Muggles. They don't like the unknown much, do they?"

They made their way through the station, purchasing three tickets at the window and then waiting around the platform, catching up with old friends and comparing each other's new hair or clothes. Rowan was laughing with Marlene McKinnon when she looked up and saw him.

Sirius Black was laughing with James as he carried his trunk atop his strong shoulders, making his way through the crowds just as she had done. Rowan smiled, her fingers grasping around in her bag for her mirror. She vainly attempted to smooth her curls, though after a few seconds of doing so, they just became more frizzed and she gave up, slipping the mirror back into her bag. As Sirius came closer, Rowan pretended to be very interested in Lily's conversation with a raven haired girl, waiting for him to notice her. It was James who spotted them first, sneaking up behind Lily and placing his hands over her eyes, but it didn't take long for Sirius to take note of Rowan either.

"Rowan!" He cried, dropping his trunk to the ground. Something made a loud splitting sound inside, but Sirius didn't seem to mind.

"You cut your hair." Rowan mused, running her hand gently over the nape of Sirius's neck. He closed his eyes at her touch, wrapping her tightly in his arms. Rowan laid her head on his chest, smiling as she caught the sharp, woodsy scent of his cologne and enjoying the softness of his robes on his strong figure.

"Yea, Mrs. Potter attacked me one night with a pair of gardening shears and threatened to cut my hair off in the night, so I let her trim it in the kitchen with a normal pair of scissors." He ran his hand through his new, short cut, grimacing as he realized his curls were permanently gone. "It doesn't look too bad, does it? That woman nearly scalped me…." He began looking around, hoping to find a reflective surface of some sort to check himself out in, but Rowan turned his face back to her.

"I like it." She said, her eyes moving over his sharp, haughty features. "It makes you more handsome, really…" She smirked. "And I can finally see your face." Sirius laughed.

"Alright, enough with the smart ass comments. How was your break?" Rowan shrugged, her hands pressed against his chest.

"Not too bad. How about yours? Anything exciting happen besides the hair incident?" Sirius shook his head, then moved his hands to his hair again, not used to the absence of his curls.

"Not really…listen, are you sure it looks alright? Because I don't know…it's kind of-" Rowan pressed a finger to his lips, smiling coyly.

"Attractive?" She whispered, leaning towards him. Sirius raised an eyebrow, then his face split into a wide grin.

"Oh, you really think so?" He said, moving closer. Rowan grinned.

"Really truly."

Sirius reached out and used his thumb to brush a few curls away from Rowan's face, tucking them gently behind her ears.

"James stole that letter I wrote to you. Only gave it back to me after I won it in the poker game we played that night." He smiled. "Best poker game I ever played." Rowan rolled her eyes.

"All just for me? Oh, Sirius…" She said playfully, straightening the collar of his robes. "Well, don't I feel special!"

Lily and James had long wandered off, and, not too far away, Alice was hugging Frank, fussing over a bright yellow carnation he had presented her as she got off the train. Sirius had moved them to an area where they were almost completely alone, hidden by a large crate and tucked away behind one brick wall. He sighed heavily, pressing Rowan tight against him, and before Rowan could reply he was kissing her more passionately than she'd ever been kissed before. His soft lips barely brushed hers, his hands were tight around her waist, holding her much too close as he gradually switched to soft, slow, sensual kisses that left her weak in the knees. He must have felt the passion too, for he wrapped one arm around Rowan's back and one at the nape of her neck, supporting her head as he dipped her into a deep, spine tingling kiss. Rowan tightened her grip on him as the kiss deepened, becoming fast and furious as he dipped her lower to the ground. Rowan was beginning to feel lightheaded and just as her knees began to buckle Black lifted her upright and returned to the slow kisses, lightly sucking on her bottom lip as he pulled away and gazed into her eyes.

"I had to give you an experience equal to the one you gave me." He said, his hands falling to her waist again. "It's only fair." Rowan looked up at him, swaying on the spot.

"Bloody hell, Sirius," she said, using the wall to steady herself, "I think you topped any kiss I could ever give you. I was worried you were going to have your way with me on the station floor!" Sirius pulled Rowan towards him again.

"I could have…" He whispered, his eyes shining. "I wanted to." Rowan punched his arm, rolling her eyes.

"Stop that, there's children around." She said, jerking her head in the direction of two third year boys, who had been watching the kiss and were now giggling madly. Sirius smiled.

"Nothing they haven't heard before…" He muttered, kissing her softly again as his fingers found their way under her hair to softly caress the back of her neck. Rowan pulled away from his arms and took his hand firmly.

"Come on, Romeo." She said, leading him through the station, "We've got to find Lily."


End file.
